


Welcome to the World

by Aravis_Bryir



Series: California One-Shots [11]
Category: Black Friday - Team StarKid
Genre: Autistic Hannah Foster, F/M, Fluff
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-20
Updated: 2020-09-02
Packaged: 2021-03-03 02:16:08
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 50
Words: 100,004
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24287242
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Aravis_Bryir/pseuds/Aravis_Bryir
Summary: "But you're not due for another week.""Tell that to the baby!"
Relationships: Hannah Foster & Ethan Green, Hannah Foster & Lex Foster, Hannah Foster & Webby, Lex Foster & Ethan Green, Lex Foster/Ethan Green
Series: California One-Shots [11]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1736671
Comments: 99
Kudos: 89





	1. Chapter 1

Lex was annoyed. She was also uncomfortable, unable to sleep, and very much needed to pee. Being nine months pregnant would be the reason for all of these problems, plus the fact that she’d been having Braxton hicks all evening wasn’t helping. The main thing right now was the need to pee paired with the lack of ability for her to be able to get out of bed easily, so in the middle of the night she was trying to get Ethan to wake up.

“Ethan!”

Finally he rolled over and opened his eyes. “Huh? What is it?” He murmurs, still half asleep.

“I need to pee.”

“And?”

“I can’t get up because your baby has made me the size of an elephant, so help me up!”

Ethan sat up and got out of bed, walking around to Lex’s side, pulling her up to her feet.

“Thanks, babe.” She said as she waddled her way into the bathroom. Ethan slipped back into bed, but stayed awake, knowing that it was highly probable Lex would be demanding more of him soon. He picked up his phone to check the time: 2:00 AM. He felt bad for Lex, she was always sore, uncomfortable and always had trouble sleeping now. 

“Ethan!” Lex called from the bathroom.

He got back out of bed, slowly meandering to the bathroom.

“Ethan!” Lex sounded more urgent this time. He quickened his pace to find her standing in the middle of the bathroom, a puddle beneath her and one hand on her stomach, the other holding  
onto the bench.

“Are you okay?”

“Am I okay?! My water just broke! Take me to the fucking hospital!”

“But, you’re not due for another week.”

“Tell that to the baby! Let’s move, Ethan!”

“Right, right, okay.” He suddenly became nervous. Lex was in labour, which meant that in a few hours he’d be a dad. An actual dad. Not just the guy who might as well be Hannah’s dad.

“Come on, Ethan, we haven’t got all day!”

“Its two in the morning.”

“I don’t give a fuck! Get the hospital bag, get Hannah and get me to the fucking hospital!”

He ran off to do as she instructed. He grabbed the duffel bag filled with things the Internet said they’d need and went into Hannah’s room to wake her up.  
“Wake up, Banana, we gotta go.” He said, shaking her awake.

“Huh?” Hannah opened her eyes, rubbing away the sleep.

“Lexi’s having the baby, we gotta go to the hospital now.” He explained pulling her out of bed, also grabbing the backpack she used for school, which had a few things to keep her entertained, plus her headphones. He pulled Hannah out of her room, gave her the backpack and car keys.

“Go hop in the car, Okay? I’ll be there soon with Lex.”

Hannah nodded and ran out to the car as Ethan returned to the bathroom, hospital bag over his shoulder.

“Hannah’s out at the car.” He said going over to her. He wrapped an arm around her waist to support her. Together they started to make there way out of the apartment, having to stop once as a  
contraction hit Lex. He hated seeing how much pain she was in. She squeezed his hand tightly until it was over then they continued on to the car. Hannah jumped out of the back seat to open the  
door for Lex and Ethan helped her sit down, before going over to the driver’s side. He passed the hospital bag back to Hannah and started the car, beginning the drive to the hospital. 

After ten minutes Lex doubled over, crying out as another contraction hit her. Ethan gave her his hand to squeeze, half regretting it with the amount of force she put into it. He glanced in the  
rear-view to see Hannah looking scared at the noise Lex just made.

“Put your headphones on, Split, Lex will be okay.”

She nodded pulling the headphones out of her backpack and over her ears. 

Lex had two more contractions before they made it to the hospital, Hannah oblivious to them. 

Once Ethan parked the car, Hannah climbed out with the two bags while Ethan went to help Lex. The three of them made it into the maternity wing of the hospital where a nurse spotted them  
and pulled out a wheelchair for Lex, the nurse and Ethan helping her into it. The nurse then guided them to a free delivery room and handed him a stack of paperwork to fill out while she went to  
find a midwife.

He helped Lex up onto the bed where she lay back against the pillows, slightly more relaxed now that she was in the hospital, but not much.

The nurse soon returned with a midwife and an obgyn and they got to work, the nurse taking Hannah out to a playroom nearby.

Ethan didn’t pay attention to what the medical staff were doing, all his focus was on Lex. He held tightly onto her hand as she squeezed the life out of it.

“Breathe, babe, you can do it.” He said a few hours in.

“I know to fucking breathe, Ethan!”

They continued on like this well into the morning, until finally at 10:37AM their daughter was born.

Her soft cries filled the room and Lex sat up as much as her tired body could, to get a peak of the newborn. Ethan stared on in amazement as the midwife came round and passed the infant into  
Lex’s awaiting arms.

“Hi.” Lex whispered as the little girl stopped crying and stared up at her with wide brown eyes. She stroked a finger lightly over her daughter’s head, tears of joy running down her cheeks. She  
looks over to Ethan who wears a look of awe and wonder, tears also in his eyes.

“Wow.” Was all he could say looking at the picture before him.

“That’s all you’re gonna say?” Lex laughed.

“Wow.” He said again.

“Do you want to hold her?” Lex didn’t want to let go of her, but Ethan needed a turn holding his daughter.

He nodded, and Lex passed the swaddled baby over to him. “She’s perfect, Lex.” He cradles the child in his arms.

“I can’t believe we have a daughter.” Lex gazes fondly at Ethan and their baby.

“Me neither, Babe.” He looks up at her. “This is the best day of my life.”

She smiled. “What about the day you met me?”

“That day was pretty good too.” He grins back. “And I guess without it we wouldn’t be here. But either way, everyday I spend with you is the best day, and they keep getting better.”

“I love you.”

“I love you too, so fucking much.”

The baby begins to fuss, giving off little cries as she squirms in Ethan’s arms.

“I think baby is hungry.” The midwife said. Both of them had completely forgotten she was there. Ethan handed the baby over to Lex who soon had the baby nursing.

“While she feeds, do you want to go get Hannah?” Lex asked.

Ethan was reluctant to leave, not wanting to miss a moment of his daughter’s life, but slowly nods, getting out of his seat for the first time in hours, gives Lex and the baby a kiss each and  
headed out to find Hannah. He is pointed in the direction of the playroom and goes in to find Hannah curled up asleep on one of the couches in the room, headphones having fallen slightly  
askew in her sleep. He bends down and gently shakes her awake.

“Rise and shine, Banana, there’s someone I want to introduce you too.” He says softly.

Hannah sits up. “Baby here?”

“Baby’s here.”

She gets up off of the couch and Ethan takes her hand, guiding her back to the room Lex and the baby were in.”

“Boy baby or girl baby?” Hannah asks.

“Girl.”

“Name?”

“We haven’t given her one yet.” Ethan says as he opens the door. By this time the baby had finished eating and was happily lying in Lex’s arms.

“Hey, Banana.” She says when she sees her sister.  
Hannah goes straight to Lex’s bedside and stares excitedly at her niece. “Hello baby, I’m Hannah.” She says quietly.

“Do you want to hold her?”

She nods enthusiastically.

“Go sit on the chair and Ethan will pass her to you.”

Hannah sits down holding out her arms to accept the baby as Ethan takes her from Lex and brings her over to Hannah.

“Make sure you hold her head, Split.” He instructs as he lowers the baby into her arms.

“Webby says welcome.” Hannah said to the baby nestled in her arms.

Lex lays down on her pillows, letting out a yawn.

“You should get some sleep, babe.” Ethan said, brushing loose strands of hair off of her face.

“I don’t want to miss anything.” She mumbles.

“You need the rest, besides, you’ve got the rest of your life to watch her.”

“You were up all night too.”

“Yeah, but I didn’t give birth to our little girl, did I? Get some sleep, I’ll wake you if anything happens, okay?”

“Fine.” Lex closed her eyes and Ethan kissed her forehead.

“Night, babe.”

“It’s the middle of the day.”

“Shush, go to sleep.”

It didn’t take very long for Lex to fall asleep, put she was soon snoring softly.

“Heavy.” Hannah said a few minutes later.

“Do you want me to take her from you?” He asked.

Hannah nodded and he lifted the baby from her arms.

* * *

As their daughter had been born in the morning, and everything went well, they were allowed to leave the hospital later that night.

Lex carried the now sleeping baby into the apartment, followed by Ethan with all the bags and Hannah. 

Ethan dumped the stuff in the living room and ordered them all pizza, seeing as everyone was rather hungry. Once the food had been eaten they all headed off to bed. It had been a long, yet  
rewarding day.

Lex carefully placed her sleeping daughter in her cot in their room. She stood there and watched the baby sleep, Ethan coming up behind her and wrapping her in a hug after he’d come back  
from tucking Hannah in.

“You were amazing today, babe.” He said, kissing the back of her head.

“She’s amazing.” Lex said. “What are we gonna name her?” They had discussed potential names, but never settled on one, both thinking it would be easier to decide once the baby was born.

“I don’t know. You have any ideas?”

“I was thinking maybe we could call her Ebony?”

Ethan thought it over, looking at his daughter. “Yeah I like that, she looks like an Ebony. Now we just need a middle name.”

“Yeah.”

“What about it being Alexandra? After her amazing super hot mum.”

“No way. I hate my name.”

“No you don’t.”

“I don’t hate Lex, I hate Alexandra, though.”

“Okay, fair enough. How about Hannah?”

“Ebony Hannah Green.” Lex said, testing out the sound of the name. “Yeah I like that. I think Banana will like it too.”

“Like what?” Hannah said coming into their room.

“The baby’s name.”

“Baby has name now?”

“Yep.” Lex nods. “Wanna know what it is?”

Hannah nods excitedly, bouncing on her toes.

“Hannah, I’d like to formally introduce you to Ebony Hannah Green.”

Her face lights up as she runs over to the cot. “She matches me!”

“She sure does.” Ethan says, ruffling Hannah’s hair. “No what did you come over here for?”

“Didn’t say night to baby.” Hannah says. “Na-night, Ebony.” She lets out a yawn.

“Time to go to sleep I think.” Ethan says. “You want me to tuck you back in, or are you good?”

“Good.”

“Okay, night split.”

“Night Hannah.” Lex says as Hannah wonders back to her room. “I think we should get some sleep to, you haven’t slept in ages.”

“Yeah.” Ethan yawns as well. They each kiss Ebony’s head and go to their bed, Lex resting her head on Ethan’s shoulder, his arm around her waist. They were about to fall asleep when Ebony’s  
cries brought them out of their sleepy stupor. “Sleep’s overrated, anyway.” Ethan kisses Lex’s forehead. “I’ve got her, babe, you keep going to sleep.”

Lex nods, too tired to protest as Ethan goes and checks on their daughter. He picks her up, trying to determine why she was upset. He soon discovers she needs a nappy change and gets to it.  
He rocks her in his arms until she’s asleep once more before he lowers her back into the cot. He returns to his own bed, cuddling up next to Lex and promptly fell asleep.


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is less fluffy than the first chapter, just a heads up for you

“Lexi.” Hannah said, shaking her sister awake. “Hair please?” She had attempted to do her own braids so that Lex could sleep for a little longer, but had failed dismally.

“Sure, Banana.” Lex yawned sitting up over the side of the bed. Hannah sat herself down between her feet and Lex got to work on her hair. She brushed out the tangled remnants of Hannah’s  
attempts before doing her hair in two braids. “There you go.”

“Thanks.” Hannah gave her a hug before scampering away.

Lex went to lie back down when Ebony woke up crying. She got out of bed and went over to the cot. She picked up the two-week-old baby and cradled her in her arms. “You’re hungry aren’t  
you?” She went back over to the bed, sitting down and began to nurse Ebony.

“Morning, babe.” Ethan said as he sat up in bed, now awake. He gave Lex a quick kiss.

“Morning. How’d you sleep?”

“Not too badly. How about you?”

“About the same.” She said, resting her head on his shoulder. 

“How’s Ebbi this morning?” He stroked his daughter’s head.

“Hungry.”

“Really? I’d never have guessed.” He said sarcastically as Lex finished feeding the baby, rolling her eyes at him. “I’ve got to get ready for work.” He kissed the side of her head and began getting  
changed.

“Oh yeah, you’re back now. We’re gonna miss having you around all day.”

“I’m gonna miss you girls too.” He goes and gives Lex a proper kiss, then kisses the top of Ebony’s head. “I’ll drop Split off at school on my way. Are you okay to pick her up?”

“Yeah. Have a good day babe, I’ll see you when you get home.”

He gives her another kiss. “Love you.”

“Love you too.”

He leaves the room. “Come on, Banana, time for school.” He takes her hand and walks her out to the car.

The apartment went quiet after they left.

“Okay, Ebbi, it’s just you and mum today.” She left the bedroom, carrying Ebony, and went to make herself some breakfast. She sat on the living room floor, playing with the baby while munching  
on a banana. She’d tickle Ebony’s tummy every now and then just to hear her little baby giggles, which were the cutest thing she’d ever heard.  
“I think we’re gonna go shopping today, Ebbi, the fridge is looking a bit bare.” Lex said after finishing her breakfast. She stood up, bringing Ebony with her and went back into her bedroom,  
getting changed from her pyjamas and changing the baby into her adorable little baby clothes. Ebony was placed in the second hand pram Ethan had got on EBay, and the two of them headed off  
to the local supermarket. 

It was a warm and sunny day. Lex smiled as she saw Ebony look up at the sky in amazement. As they walked along, a car zoomed past, the engine revving hard. The noise startled the baby and  
she began to cry.

“Hey, it’s okay.” Lex picked her up and held her against her shoulder, rubbing Ebony’s back soothingly. “Shhh, you’re okay.” Her daughter soon stopped crying, but Lex continued to hold her for  
a bit longer while they continued their walk.

By the time they reached the supermarket, Ebony was happily asleep in the pram, making it easy for Lex to go about her shopping. It was pretty quiet there as it was the middle of a weekday. Lex  
found that she enjoyed shopping a lot more when there were hardly any people.

“Oh, you’ve got a little baby!” An old lady approached Lex, looking into the pram at the sleeping baby.

“Yeah.” Lex smiled. This had happened a few times. People loved babies. And she and Ethan made fucking adorable ones, so she didn’t mind too much as long as whoever it was were being  
respectful. Though, something about this woman seemed a little off. Maybe Lex was just nervous about Ethan not being there with her.

“What’s her name?”

“Ebony.”

“Such a pretty name. How old is little Ebony?”

“Two weeks.”

“Oh, so young.” The lady cooed down at the baby. “Is she your first?”

“Yes.” The first she’d given birth too was Ebony, though not the first she’d raised, that would be Hannah. But it was a lot easier to just say yes than to go into her whole backstory, which she  
didn’t want to go sharing with strangers.

“Oh, how exciting.” The old lady looked like she was going to try and hold Ebony, something Lex was not a fan of.

“Sorry, I really need to get going. Gotta get home before her next feed.” Lex said making to move away from the woman.

“Oh, of course, I understand. I can watch her for a bit while you finish your shopping, if you like?”

Lex had a bad feeling about that, apart from not wanting her baby to be alone with a complete stranger. “No, I’m okay, thanks.” She went to move on again, but the old woman grabbed the  
handle of the pram. She wished Ethan were there, he was great at getting rid of these people.

“Are you sure? Being a young mother can be so tiring at times. You need little breaks from baby every now and then. It’s really no trouble for me to watch her for a bit.” The sickly sweet look she  
gave Lex gave her a feeling of impending doom.

“I said I was fine, thank you.” Lex forcefully ripped the woman’s hand from the pram and made straight for the checkout, not bothering to get the last few items on her list. She quickly paid for  
the items and left the shop, almost running the entire way home. She didn’t like the feeling she’d gotten from that old lady, and she always trusted her gut.

Once she made it back to the apartment she locked the door even putting the chain on. She let out a sigh of relief. They were safe in the apartment. Ebony began to fuss.

“I think your getting hungry, baby girl.” Lex picked up the baby and gave her a feed.

* * *

Lex had hardly put Ebony down all day, slightly paranoid that the woman from the supermarket might somehow be able to grab her. But it was now time to go and collect Hannah from school; so  
back into the pram Ebony went. The walk to the school was uneventful, something Lex was quite grateful for. 

The bell rang just as she walked up to the gates and children began to stream out of classrooms. Lex soon spotted Hannah and waved her over.

“Hey, Banana, was today a good day or a bad day?”

“Bad day.” She mumbled. 

“I’m sorry.” She gave Hannah a hug.

“Couldn’t help. Bad lady.” She muttered before breaking away from Lex. “Ebbi okay?”

“Yeah she’s okay.”

Hannah nodded before looking into the pram to see for herself. “Good. Home now?”

“Yep.” Lex pushed the pram with one hand and held Hannah’s with the other as the three of them began to walk home. As they came up to a small intersection Hannah froze.

“Not this way.” Hannah pulled Lex down a side street. The sudden movement cause Ebony to start crying.

“Shhh, it’s okay, Ebbi.” Lex soothed, before turning to her sister. “Hannah, what’s wrong?”

“Help now.” Was all she said as she begun to guide Lex through several backstreets that slowly would there way to the apartment. 

After twenty minutes of this the apartment door was in sight. Lex made to go in to the main entrance, but Hannah stopped her.

“Wait. Shhh.”

They waited in a small side street that was invisible from the main road. Hannah watched the main road intently, apparently waiting for something. Lex watched as well, wondering what all of this  
was about. Hannah had done strange things before, but this seemed different. She had no idea how Hannah had know such a backwards way to get home, Lex herself hadn’t known about half  
the streets they walked down. 

Several people walked past the main road in dribs and drabs, but nothing out of the ordinary to Lex.

“Safe. Go.” Hannah said, running towards the apartment building, Lex quickly following behind. Once inside Hannah frantically pressed the elevator button. “Up.” Soon they were in the elevator  
that took them up to their floor. “Quick.” Hannah dragged Lex to their apartment door. Lex unlocked it as fast as she could and Hannah ran in. “Lock.” Lex locked up the door once inside and as  
soon as the lock was in place Hannah collapsed onto the couch, shaking from a seeming rush of adrenaline.

“Hannah, are you okay.” Lex went straight over to her sister, pulling her into her arms.

“Couldn’t help. Help now. Safe.”

Lex wasn’t quite sure what Hannah meant but was glad whatever was going on between her and Webby ended with safe. “You’re safe here, Banana.”

Hannah shook her head. “Ebbi safe here.”

“You, me and Ebbi are all safe here. Ethan too.”

Hannah said nothing but got up off of the couch and over to Ebony, still in the pram. She went to pick her up, struggling a bit, so Lex went over to help. Hannah carried Ebony over to the blanket  
they kept on the living room floor for her to lie on and placed her down there.

“Safe now Ebbi. Webby says.”

Ebony stared up at Hannah as she spoke. Ethan had pointed out a few days ago that Ebbi always looks as if she sees the words coming out of the mouth of whoever’s speaking. Lex just thought  
it was her trying to find where the noise was coming from. As soon as Hannah says Webby’s name, Ebony closes her eyes and goes to sleep.

“She knows.” Hannah said, getting up off of the floor to put her school bag away.

As the evening progressed Hannah seemed to become more relaxed and was soon playing on the floor with Ebony while Lex got started on dinner. It wasn’t long after that that Ethan came  
through the front door. Hannah jumped up and ran to give him a hug.

“Hey, Split, how was school?” He says returning the hug.

Hannah shook her head.

“I’m sorry.” He picked her up, carrying her over to where Ebony lay on the ground. “I missed you girls today.” He said.

Lex entered the room at that point. “We missed you to.” She goes over and gives him a kiss. “How was work, babe?”

“Eh, it was alright. Would’ve much rather spent the day with you guys though.”

“Well, you’re here now.”

He hugs her with the arm that isn’t carrying Hannah, kissing the top of her head. “Yeah, but at least I still get to spend the evening with my three favourite people.”

Lex kisses his cheek. “Relax for a few minutes, babe, I’ve almost finished with dinner.” She leaves and goes back to the kitchen.

Ethan sits himself down on the ground in front of Ebony, placing Hannah in his lap. She went back to playing with the baby. Ethan was happy just to watch the two interact. 

* * *

Once the kids were put to bed, Lex and Ethan relaxed on the couch, wrapped in each other’s arms.

“I went to the shops today.” She said.

“Oh, yeah? How’d it go?”

“It was interesting to say the least.” Lex went on to explain the interaction she’d had with the old woman, including the bad feeling she’d gotten.

“Okay, that’s a little odd.” He knew never to discount Lex’s gut feelings, her gut was never wrong.

“Yeah and then when I picked up Hannah from school she said ‘couldn’t help. Bad lady.’ And then took us on a crazy back route all the way home. It was weird. She kept wanting to make sure  
Ebony was safe and okay.”

“Yeah, that’s strange, but everything’s okay now though, right?

“Yeah, I think so. Hannah calmed down a lot once we got back here. I can’t help but feel worried though, like something bad’s going to happen.”

Ethan drew her closer to him. “Maybe you just got too anxious with everything that happened today. Everything’s okay now, and the kids are safely tucked into bed. You’ve just had a bit of a  
crazy first day on your own with Ebbi.”

“Yeah.” Lex relaxed into him, starting to dose off a bit. Everyone was fine, she’d just had a crazy day, plus she probably still had a few left over hormones from when she was pregnant.

“I think we should get to bed before you fall asleep out here.” Ethan whispered, kissing the side of her head.

“You could always just carry me to bed later, I’m comfy here.” She mumbled, curling into his side.

“You’re a light sleeper, babe. You’d just wake up and get mad at me.”

“No I wouldn’t.”

“You’ve done it before, babe. Come on, let’s go to bed, I can still carry you if you want.”

As a response Lex wraps her arms around Ethan’s neck. He scooped her up and carried her to their bedroom.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, I'm not entirely sure where I'm going with this but I had an idea so I wrote it down. Oh, yeah, this fic has multiple chapters now and shouldn't technically be allowed in my one-shot series anymore, but screw the rules of society, so yeah. Maybe I’ll end up moving this chapter to being its own story, who knows. If you have an opinion feel free to let me know what it is.


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> "Bad rain."

It was raining. They’d been lucky to have so few rain showers while they’d been in California. Rain was fine for the most part, for Lex and Ethan that was. Hannah, on the other hand hated rain.  
To her it was like being pricked by hundreds of tiny needles. The sensation never failed to overwhelm her. It had rained a lot back in Hatchetfield and getting Hannah to school on those days had  
been particularly challenging, especially before Ethan got a car. He and Lex had come up with a fairly good system; wrapping Hannah up in an oversize raincoat to make sure any exposed skin  
was covered then keep her under the largest umbrella they could find. This system worked fairly well when it wasn’t windy, if there was wind and the rain splashed Hannah then she’d  
undoubtedly have a panic attack.

This particular day it was wet and windy with thunder scheduled later in the day, another thing that could set Hannah off, and she was absolutely refusing to go to school.

“C’mon, Split, you gotta go to school.” Ethan said, trying to get her into the raincoat.

"Wet. Loud noise.” She said crossing her arms so that he couldn’t get her arms in the sleeves. 

“Hannah, come over here.” Lex called from where she was seated on the couch, three-month-old Ebony on her lap. “Why won’t you go to school? You’ve gone when it’s raining before.” She rubbed her sisters arms.

“Bad rain.”

“What’s bad about it?”

“Cold. Too much. Hurts.”

Ethan came over and smoothed out her hair. “That’s why you wear a raincoat though, Split. It stops the rain from getting to you.”

“Not today. Bad rain.” Hannah sat down on the floor hugging her knees to her chest, trying to fight off tears.

Lex and Ethan looked at each other, silently talking about whether or not they should just let Hannah stay home. After a while Lex sighed.

“Alright, you can stay home. But just this once, okay?”

Hannah nodded, still hugging her knees. She only seemed to relax slightly at the prospect of not having to go out in the rain.

Ethan bent down and kissed the top of her head. “Be good for Lex, Banana, I love you.” Next he kissed Ebony’s head. “Be good for your mum, kiddo, I love you.” Then kissed Lex on the lips. “Love  
you, babe.”

“What? Not gonna tell me to be good?”

“I feel like you’d probably get grumpy at me if I ever told you what to do.” He said with a shrug.

“Good answer.” She smirked. “Love you too. Be good for your boss.”

He laughed. “Will do. By ladies.” He waved before grabbing his keys and heading out to work.

Lex took Ebony off of her lap, placing her on the couch before crouching down on the floor next to Hannah, pulling her into a hug.

“Anything I can do for you, Banana?” She whispered.

“Bad rain. Cold” She muttered.

“Do you want to put on some warmer clothes?”

After a moments thought, she slowly nodded, sliding out of Lex’s lap. Lex stood and helped her sister to her feet. Hannah immediately hugged onto Lex, wrapping her arms tightly around her  
waist.

Ebony was still on the couch begun to reach her arms up towards Lex opening and closing her hands. 

“You wanna come too, huh, Ebbi?” Lex said scooping up the baby. Together the three girls made their way to Hannah’s room. 

It wasn’t a particularly chilly day, but Hannah always felt cold when in was raining. So once in her room Lex put Ebony on the bed and pulled out a thick fleece jumper for her to wear, helping  
Hannah pull it over the cardigan she was already wearing.

“Warmer now, Banana?” She smoothed out the hair that had gotten mussed by the jumper.

Hannah gave a slight nod, balling her hands inside her sleeves.

“Let’s pull out a blanket and cuddle up on the couch and watch some TV, huh?”

Hannah nodded again.

Lex grabbed a spare blanket from Hannah’s wardrobe, picked up Ebony and guided Hannah out to the living room. The three of them sat on the couch and Lex spread the blanket across her’s  
and Hannah’s laps, keeping Ebony outside of the blanket on her lap so she wouldn’t get to hot. Hannah snuggled into her side, wrapping the blanket around her. She crept one hand out of the  
blanket to gently stroke the soft brown curls on Ebony’s head. Lex switched on the TV, flicking through the different Netflix movies.

“Have a preference?” She asked.

“No rain.” Hannah said.

Whether or not a movie had rain was something that was hard to remember, but as Hannah often requested this, Lex and Ethan had come up with a list of movies that wouldn’t set Hannah off in  
any way. These included movies that weren’t too bright, or had sudden noises/jump scares, and movies that had no rain. This was the list they used whenever Hannah watched a post-panic  
attack movie.

“How about Coco?”

Hannah gave a noise of consent and Lex hit play.

Halfway through the movie Hannah pokes Lex on the arm.

“What is it, Banana?”

“Bathroom.”

Lex paused the movie. “Okay, do you want to take the blanket with you so you don’t get cold?”

Hannah nodded as Lex picked up Ebony so she could take the blanket. With the entire blanket wrapped around her, Hannah set off to the bathroom. Not long after she’d left, Lex heard Hannah  
scream. The noise woke up Ebony, but luckily she didn’t cry. Lex left her lying on the couch and raced off to find Hannah.

She was standing frozen in the middle of the bathroom crying and panicking.

“Hannah, what’s wrong?” She approached her sister.

Suddenly Hannah screamed again. “Bad rain!” This time Lex saw what was the cause. There was a small crack in the ceiling above where Hannah stood and rain was leaking in. Hannah furiously  
began rubbing and scratching at the top of her head, trying to dispel the sensation of the cold water drop that had fallen on her.

“It’s okay, it’s just a leak.” Lex pulled Hannah over to her, away from the dripping ceiling. This had happened a few times back in Hatchetfield. The trailer had a shirtty roof that always dripped  
water when it rained. It was a struggle just to get Hannah to move from one side of the room to the other when it was pouring rain outside.

“Bad rain.” Hannah muttered, still crying. She continued to rub at her head. “Not going away!” She half screamed, a panic attack was in full swing.

“I know, I know.” Lex pulled her hands away from her head. “You have to wait for it to dry, Banana.”

“No.” She tried to rub her head again, but Lex stopped her.

“I’ll kiss it better for you, yeah? It can’t hurt you anymore after that.”

Hannah stopped struggling and nodded, tears still falling fast down her cheeks.

Lex softly kissed the tiny wet spot on top of Hannah’s head. “See, all better now.” She wiped away the tears.

Hannah nodded, letting out a sniff.

“How about you go and keep watching the movie. I’ll be there in a second.”

Hannah nodded and slowly meandered back to the couch. Lex grabbed a bucket from under the bathroom sink, placing it beneath the leak to catch the water. She also put a face towel in the  
bucket so that Hannah wouldn’t hear a dripping sound before returning to the living room. There she found Hannah watching the movie curled up on the couch, still wrapped in the blanket,  
Ebony on her lap. Lex sat down next them and Hannah shuffled in closer to her side.

They sat snuggled up together for the remainder of the morning, watching Tangled after they’d finished Coco.

“Lunch?” Hannah asked after they’d finished the movie.

“I reckon so.” Lex got up from the couch, stretching her stiff joints before going off into the kitchen making herself and Hannah cheese and tomato toasties. She fed Ebony while they cooked,  
and once they were done she sat back down on the couch with Hannah and they began eating the sandwiches.

While Lex placed their dirty plates in the dishwasher the thunder started. It was a loud boom that caused both Hannah and Ebony to start crying. Lex rushed over and picked her daughter up to  
soothe her, while also running a hand over Hannah’s head.

“I’m gonna run and grab your headphones, okay?” She kissed the top of her head and went in search of the headphones that were found nestled in Hannah’s discarded school bag. Lex held them  
out to Hannah, unable to put them on her herself while holding Ebony.

Hannah shook her head. “Ebbi wear them.” She said. Both girls were still crying from the thunderclap.

“That’s very nice of you, Hannah, but Ebbi’s too little, they won’t fit. You wear them, she’ll be okay.”

Reluctantly Hannah took the headphones and placed them over her ears just as the thunder sounded again. Hannah could still hear it, but the noise was dulled enough that she could handle it,  
and began to calm herself down. Ebony only whimpered and continued crying.

Lex sat down next to Hannah and tried to soothe the crying baby. Hannah saw this and stroked Ebony’s head.  
“S’okay, Ebbi. Can’t hurt you. Webby says.”

Ebony did the funny thing she did where it looked as if she watched the sound flow out of Hannah’s mouth and began to calm down a bit.

Lex hugged Hannah too her and kissed both of her girls on the tops of their heads. The storm passed in a few minutes, but they stayed like that on the couch until Ethan came home that  
evening, though by that time both kids had fallen asleep.

“Hey, babe.” Lex said as Ethan walked through the door. She was stuck on the couch with Hannah asleep on her shoulder and the sleeping Ebony on her lap.

“Hey.” He comes over and gives her a kiss. “Tiring day I see.” He nods at the sleeping children.

“Yeah.” Lex sighs, she was tired herself. “Hannah had a panic attack because turns out the bathroom ceiling leaks and dripped water on top of her, then panicked again, though not as badly  
when the thunder started. Ebbi wasn’t a fan of that either.”

“Poor kids.” He brushed hair out of Hannah’s face. “D’you want me to take Banana to bed?”

“Yeah, thanks babe, I’ve been stuck on this couch all day.” She kisses Hannah’s forehead as Ethan scoops her up and tucks her into bed. Lex stands up and moves Ebony into her cot. 

Ethan came up to her and wrapped her in a hug. “I’ll call the maintenance guy tomorrow to come and have a look at the leak.” He said as Lex buried herself into him. “Hannah was so sweet during the thunder.” “Yeah?” “She wanted to let Ebbi wear her headphones.” “Well, we both knew she’d love Ebbi.” He tucked her hair behind her ears. “You seem exhausted. Have a rest, while I make dinner, okay?”

Lex nodded. “You’re amazing.” She gives him a kiss.

He chuckles. “I know, but feel free to tell me anytime.”

She rolled her eyes. “Whatever.”

He goes to leave into the kitchen but Lex holds onto him.

“Stay for a bit. I like hugging you.”

He wraps his arms back around her. “Sure, babe.” He kisses the top of her head.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yay some fluff.
> 
> Although maybe this chapter is just a long winded way of writing exposition, we may never know.
> 
> And yes neither Coco or Tangled have any rain in them if my memory serves correct.


	4. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> "Webby said watch out."

Something strange seemed to be going on. Whenever Lex went out she had the feeling of being watched. The first few times she’d just shaken off the feeling, but it had been happening for two weeks now every time she went out. So she decided to tell Ethan, maybe he could come up with a reason for it or maybe she was just being paranoid.

“Hey Ethan?”

“Yeah?”

“Have you ever had the feeling that you’re being watched?” She walked over to where he was washing the dishes. It was getting late and the kids were already asleep.

“Yeah.”

“Okay, so I’ve had that feeling every time I leave the apartment for about two weeks now.” She hoped he didn’t think she was crazy or anything.

“That’s weird. Have you ever seen anyone watching you?”

“No, I just always have the feeling. Do you think I’m just being paranoid?”

“Maybe. Or it could just be people being curious about Ebbi, you know? Maybe all the California guys just think you’re really hot. Which you totally are, you’re supermegafoxyawesome hot.” He   
grins at her.

“Shut up, no I’m not.”

“You definitely are, babe. You’re the hottest and most beautiful person I’ve ever seen.”

She can’t help but smile. “You’re biased though.”

He shrugs. “Maybe I am, but I know what I see, and I just consider myself lucky that you even look at me.” He dries his hands on a towel, now finished with the dishes.

Lex lightly punches his shoulder. “Of course I’m gonna look at you, you’re smokin’.” She kisses him. “But back to the point, do you think I’m just being paranoid?”

He holds her, rubbing circles on her back. “I think that you might just be getting some innocent stares, but your super mum powers are perhaps exaggerating it.”

“Okay, that makes sense.”

“But let me know if it keeps happening, okay?”

“Yeah, okay.” She leans into him. “Thanks.”

“Anytime, babe.”

“Wait, supermegafoxyawesome hot?” She looked up at him.

He shrugs. “People say it.”

“No one says that, weirdo.”

“It’s definitely a thing.”

“I assure you it’s not.”

They are interrupted by Ebony crying in the other room.

“I’ll get her.” Ethan said, kissing Lex on the cheek.

* * *

It was the weekend and they’d decided to go out to the park. It was a gorgeous day and Hannah needed to collect leaves for an art assignment, so to the park they went. It was only a ten minute   
walk and it was nice to be beneath the shady trees that were dotted around. Lex had packed them some lunch so that they could have a picnic while there.

Hannah was armed with a zip lock bag and was running around to different trees collecting leaves while Lex and Ethan walked around the park, Ethan pushing Ebony in her stroller.

“This is nice.” Lex said, wrapping an arm around Ethan’s waist as they walked along. She kept an eye on Hannah, making sure she never got out of their sight.

“Yeah.”

After about half an hour they found a nice shaded spot and set up for lunch, calling Hannah over when it was ready.

“Lunch?” She said as she ran over and sat down.

“Yep, here you go.” Lex passed her a ham and cheese sandwich. She passed Ethan his BLT and unwrapped her own lettuce and cheese sandwich. “How’s the leaf hunting, Banana?”

“Good.” She said through a mouthful of sandwich. She held up her zip lock bag, which had a handful of leaves inside. She swallowed. “Need more though.”

“You can grab some more after lunch.”

She nodded and continued to munch away at her sandwich. In between bites of his BLT, Ethan fed Ebony spoonfuls of apple puree. The family sat in silence while finishing their lunch.

“Finished.” Hannah said after eating her sandwich to the crusts. “Leaves now?”

Lex nodded. “Put your crusts in the bin first, please.”

“Okay.” Hannah jumped up and threw out her crusts before continuing the hunt for leaves. Ethan and Lex finished up their lunches shortly after and packed up their picnic things, continuing   
their walk through the park, Ebony falling asleep in the pram.

“Hey, Lex?”

“Yeah?”

“Do you have that feeling of being watched right now?”

“Yes.” She said.

“Okay, because I have it too.” He looked around trying to spot the source of the feeling but found nothing.

After a few minutes they heard Hannah screaming. Turning to face her, they found that the sprinklers had been turned on in the section where Hannah was. She was frozen to the spot, furiously   
scrubbing at her skin to get rid of the feeling of the water, but the sprinklers where relentless. Ethan ran over to her and picked her up, taking her out of the area as she cried.

“You’re okay, Banana, I’ve got you.” He said rubbing her back as she clung to him, shivering slightly.

“Let’s go home now, okay?” Lex said, placing a hand on Hannah. “We’ll get you all dried and warm there.”

Hannah nodded slightly into Ethan’s shoulder, and they set off home. 

Ethan carried Hannah all the way to the apartment. She refused to be put down at any point and by the time they were back home, Hannah had half dried, while leaving a wet patch on Ethan’s   
shirt.

“Come on, Banana, let’s get you into some dry clothes.” Lex said, trying to get Hannah to let go of Ethan. She continued to hang on tight, his body heat being the main thing stopping her from   
shivering.

“I’ll take care of her, babe.” Ethan aid, giving Lex a quick kiss.

“You sure?”

“Yeah, it’s not like she’s gonna let go anyway.” He hitched up Hannah. “Let’s get you changed, Banana.”

She nodded, hugging Ethan tighter as he walked them into her room. His arms were starting to get tired, but he wouldn’t put her down if she didn’t want to, plus she was hanging on so tightly   
he didn’t have to do much holding anyway.

“You wanna get down so you can get dressed?”

She shook her head.

“Alrighty then.” He sighed. He’d never had to dress Hannah while she hung onto him before, it was a rare occurrence and the only other times it had happened it had been with Lex. But she’d   
shown him how to do it now that Hannah was getting to big for her to carry. “Okay, let go with your legs, Split.” He instructed.

Hannah unwrapped her legs from around him so she was just holding on with her arms. He took off her wet shorts and pulled on her long fluffy pyjama pants. Once they were on Hannah   
wrapped her legs around his waist once more.

“Okay, now the arms.”

She slowly unwrapped her arms and Ethan had to use one hand to keep her upright, using the other one to replace her wet shirt. He then pulled a jumper over her head and grabbed her a   
blanket, which she immediately wrapped around herself.

“All better now, right?”

Hannah didn’t answer and just wrapped her arms around him again, causing him to be partially covered in the blanket too.

Ethan sighed and walked the two of them back out into the living room.

“How is she?” Lex came over, kissing Ethan’s cheek and running her fingers through Hannah’s hair.

“She’ll be okay, just need to wait for the rest of her to dry and warm up a bit.”

“You’re wet too.”

He shrugs. “I’ll be fine. Don’t think I could get changed anyway, with miss barnacle.”

“Wouldn’t let you put her down, huh?”

“Nope, but we managed, right Split?”

Hannah doesn’t respond.

“I made you two some hot chocolate, so sit down on the couch and I’ll grab it for you.” Lex says waving them over to the couch.

Ethan sits, Hannah on his lap, curled up into him.

“Webby said watch out.” Hannah muttered. “I thought she meant the people not the sprinklers.”

“What people?” Ethan asked. Maybe she had the same feeling of being watched that he and Lex had.

“Didn’t see.” She sat up a bit more and moved so that her back was leaning against Ethan’s chest. “Ebbi sit?” Hannah always seemed to like having Ebony on her lap when she was upset.

“Yeah she can sit with us, let’s have the hot chocolate first though.” He said as Lex came over with two mugs handing them over.

“It might be a bit hot still, Banana, so be careful.” She warned, but luckily it wasn’t too hot as Hannah quickly drank hers.

“Ebbi sit?” She asked again.

“Yeah, she should be waking up soon, but just let her lie down on your lap until she does, okay?” Lex said.

Hannah nodded and Lex went and grabbed the baby from her cot, bringing her over to Hannah and placing her on her lap. Ethan wrapped his arms around the two girls on top of him.

“Wanna join in, babe?” He asked. “Plenty of room in the stack we’ve got going.”

“I think I’m good, babe.” She kisses the side of his head, sitting down next to him.

“Suit yourself, you’re the one missing out though.” He shrugs.

“I’ve sat on your lap before, it’s not that exciting.”

“Not that exciting?” He starts to bounce the two girls up and down. “That’s exciting, right Split?”

Hannah nods, holding onto Ebony.

“See, Hannah likes it.” He said triumphantly. “And if Ebbi could talk I’m sure she’d agree.”

“Fine, whatever.” Lex leans into his side and he wraps an arm around her, kissing the top of her head.

After a few moments of being snuggled up together on the couch, Hannah had fallen asleep too.

“Your lap’s so exciting it put Hannah to sleep.” Lex said softly so as not to wake the girls.

“She had a big day, I’m sure even your lap could’ve put her to sleep.” He countered.

“My lap can cater to a multitude of needs, thank you very much. It’s also plenty exciting.”

“Let’s find out.” Ethan shifted himself and the two girls on top of Lex.

“Ethan!” She began pushing at his back, trying to get him off of her. “Get off me!”

“Oh, alright.” He slid back off her. “It’s not too bad, though having you try to beat me up was pretty exciting, so I’ll give that to you.” He said with a grin.

“Whatever.” She got up. “I’ll put Ebony back in her cot, I don’t want her accidently falling off of Hannah’s lap.” She scooped up the baby, cradling her gently so she didn’t wake her up and walked   
her over to her cot. “Do you wanna take Banana to bed?” She asked when she returned.

“Yeah, I probably should.” With a slight groan he manages to get to his feet, holding Hannah in his arms. She subconsciously curls into him as he carries her off to her room, carefully tucking her   
into bed and hoping that she wouldn’t wake up from his sudden absence. Mercifully she stayed asleep and he was able to creep out of her room.

“I feel so light.” He said coming over to Lex.

“Probably because you were holding her for over an hour.”

“Yeah. Good arm workout though.” He hugs her and gives her forehead a kiss. “You know, I think Hannah got the same feeling of being watched as well today.”

“Yeah?”

“Yeah, she said that Webby said to watch out and she though it was about ‘the people’ instead of the sprinklers.”

“This whole thing is really strange.”

“Yeah, but hopefully it’s just nothing.”

“Hopefully.”


	5. Chapter 5

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> "She's here."

Lex opened her eyes. She was lying in bed, which was strange because the last place she remembered being was on the couch trying to get Ebony to stop crying. 

She got out of bed and saw the four-month-old baby asleep in her cot. She walked out of the room and into the kitchen to see Ethan and Hannah dancing along to his guilty pleasure; The   
Beatles.

“Oh no, did we wake you up?” Ethan said as he saw her entering the room.

She shook her head. “What time is it.” She yawned.

“8:30.” He said, eating a mouthful of toast.

“Ethan, you’re gonna be late for work.” 

“I’ve still got a few minutes.” He brushed the crumbs off his fingers. “Care to dance?” Not waiting for an answer he grabbed her and began waltzing her around the kitchen.

“You’re such a dork.” She tried to pull away but he only held her closer.

“But you love me anyway.” He gives her a kiss.

“Whatever. But seriously you’re gonna be late.”

“You should go back to sleep.”

“No, I’m fine, you shouldn’t have let me sleep so late anyway.”

“Hey, you’re the one that insisted on staying up all night with Ebony because I had work, the least I could do was let you lie in.”

“Whatever.” She leans into him.

He gives her a kiss on the forehead. “I’ve gotta go now, try and nap whenever you put Ebbi down, okay? I don’t want you getting sick too.”

She nods. “I’m gonna take her to the clinic later today, see if there’s any meds they can give her.”

“Good idea, babe.” He gives her a quick kiss. “Have a good day, love you.”

“Love you too.”

“Okay, c’mon Banana, let’s roll.”

Hannah runs over with her school bag and takes his hand as they leave the apartment. There is a moment of blessed silence until Ebony wakes up crying. She’d been crying most of the night,   
having developed a cold. She would sniffle and cough and just wouldn’t settle down, making her tired and cranky. It was also making Lex tired and cranky. 

Lex had made sure she was the one to try and calm Ebbi down each time she woke up so that Ethan could get some sleep for work. In the end she’d gone out to the lounge with the crying baby   
so that the noise wouldn’t disturb him. She figured that they must have fallen asleep on the couch and Ethan found them when he woke up and then returned them to their beds. She was glad he   
did, otherwise she’d have to deal with a sore neck and back on top of a sick baby.

“You’re not having a good time, are you?” She said picking her up. Lex felt really bad for her daughter. She hated seeing her in pain and the fact that she couldn’t articulate what was bothering   
her at any given time just made things harder. 

The only thing that really helped was that Hannah had had the cold before her so at least Lex knew what sort of a cold it was; the classic sore throat, runny nose and cough combo. She was   
amazed that Ebony kept crying and screaming despite having a sore throat.

“Let’s get you some breakfast, huh? It might soothe your throat a bit.” She held Ebony on her hip, rubbing the child’s back in hopes that it helped to stop the crying. It stopped the screaming, but   
tears and snot still ran down Ebony’s face and Lex quickly grabbed a tissue to wipe it away before grabbing some puree.

She sat Ebony on her lap and fed her the apple and strawberry puree. The baby ate the food without fuss and seemed to calm down a fair bit, resting her head on her mum’s shoulder.

“That feels better, doesn’t it?” Lex said softly, kissing the curls on top of her head.

Ebony yawned and wrapped a fist around a lock of Lex’s hair. She rubbed her back hoping that Ebony would fall back to sleep so that Lex might get some more too.

Ebony coughed a few times but slowly managed to go back to sleep. Lex sighed in relief and went back to the bedroom, lying on the bed with Ebony on her chest. She set an alarm on her phone   
so that she wouldn’t sleep more than a few hours and then fell asleep herself.

* * *

It was closer to midday when Lex woke up, and luckily Ebony was still asleep, still holding her hair. Carefully, she stood up, cradling the baby and went into the kitchen to make herself some   
lunch.

Ebony woke up while she was eating, but thankfully wasn’t crying, she just looked sad and miserable.

“I know,” Lex said stroking her head. “Having a cold is no fun, but after lunch we’ll go to the doctor and get you some medicine that’ll make you feel better.” She kisses her forehead and stands   
up to get ready. She gets herself and Ebony changed, puts her shoes in and puts Ebony in her stroller before leaving the apartment.

Once at the clinic they only have to wait a few minutes to be seen by one of the doctors.

“I see Ebony is having a bit of a cold?” The doctor says, flicking through the form Lex had filled out.

“Yeah, just your typical head cold but she’s having a hard time sleeping.”

The doctor nods. He checks Ebony’s temperature and heartbeat, listens to her breathe and looks inside her ear.

Ebony is not a fan of this and starts to cry, but is quickly soothed by Lex.

“I’d say infant panadol or nuerofen is what’s going to help her the most. Give her a dose before you put her down for the night and it should soothe her symptoms enough for her to sleep.”

“Thank you.” Lex stands up with the doctor and they shake hands. She goes straight to the pharmacy next door to grab the medication. 

As she leaves the pharmacy she hears a voice that sounds oddly familiar. She sees a woman with shoulder length brown hair facing away from her talking on the phone.

“Let’s just wait for the kid to get better, I don’t want to have to deal with a sick kid.” The woman says.

Lex suddenly realises why this woman is familiar to her and immediately starts walking as fast as she can away from the woman. Surely it wasn’t who she though it was. It couldn’t be. She was   
just sleep-deprived and her brain was making crazy impossible connections. Regardless she decides to call Ethan, he should be on his lunch break by now. She doesn’t realise she’s shaking until   
she dials his number. He picks up after a few rings.

“Hey, babe.”

“Please tell me I’m just going crazy because of sleep deprivation.” She steamrollers over his words.

“Lex, are you okay?”

“No.” 

Ebony seemed to pick up on Lex’s distress and began to cry softly.

“It’s okay, Ebbi.” Lex tried to calm her, while still internally panicking.

“Babe, what’s going on?” Ethan asked through the phone.

“Hang on I’m almost home.” She went into the apartment building and straight up to their floor, fumbling to unlock the door. She swings it open and quickly locks it behind her. She could hear   
her heart pounding in her ears as she slumps down on the couch. “Okay, so I saw someone. And there’s no way they could be here. But I recognised her voice and I only saw her from behind but   
I’m sure it’s her. But it can’t be.” She feels tears fall down her cheeks.

“Okay, okay, who did you think you saw?”

“My mum.”

Ethan is silent for a long while. “But there’s no way she could be in California, let alone the same place as you.”

“I know!”

“Are you sure it was her?”

“As sure as I can be without seeing her face. I know her voice, Ethan. It was her voice I’m sure.” It was the same voice that had yelled at her for her entire childhood. The voice that verbally   
abused her until the day they left for California. “But I’m just sleep deprived, right? My brain’s just making stuff up, right? Ethan? Please tell me she wasn’t actually there.”

“I don’t know how it could be her. But, babe, you sound really convinced that it was her.” Ethan was becoming worried but hoped it didn’t show in his voice.

Ebony was still crying and Lex ran over to the stroller and picked her up. 

“It’s okay, Ebbi, it’s okay.” Lex knew that Ebony wasn’t going to calm down until she had.

“Do you want me to come home?” Ethan asked.

“I don’t know.” She cried. “I don’t know what to do. I could barely keep Hannah safe before, how am I going to protect her and Ebbi from her? I can’t do it, Ethan. I can’t deal with her again.”

“You’re not doing this alone, Lex. I’m not going to let her get near you or the girls. She can’t hurt you or them here, okay?” He said.

“Okay.” She whispered down the line.

“Okay. Everything will be alright, babe. No one is going to get hurt. Not by her. Not on my watch.”

“I love you.”

“Love you too. I’m gonna see if I can come home.”

“No, Ethan, you can’t just leave in the middle of your shift. Work is too important.”

“You and the girls are way more important. I’m coming home.”

“Okay.” She relented. “Be quick.”

“I’ll be as fast as I can. Love you.” He hangs up.

To Lex it feels like he takes hours to get home. She spends the twenty minutes it actually takes constantly checking the time on her phone and trying to calm down enough so that Ebony stopped   
crying. She only achieves to stop the tears by the time Ethan gets home. 

As soon as he’s through the door he wraps her in a hug, the two of them on the couch, Ebony between them. Lex’s efforts to stop crying fail and the tears fall once more with Ethan’s embrace.

“It’s okay.” He whispers kissing her hair. “You’re okay.”

They stay that way for a long while until tears no longer fall down Lex’s face. Ethan breaks the embrace only to calm down Ebony and put her down for a nap, giving her a dose of her medication   
to help her sleep. Once she is he comes back out to Lex. He resumes holding her on the couch until it’s time to pick Hannah up from school.

“I’m gonna go get Banana.” He whispers. “I’ll be right back, try to get some sleep.”

She nods. “Thank you for coming home.”

“Of course, babe.” He kisses her before heading out to Hannah’s school.

He doesn’t have to wait long in the school car park until he spots Hannah by the school gate where Lex would normally pick her up.

He waves her over to the car and sees that she wears a worried look on her face.

“She’s here.” She says, looking up at Ethan.

He instantly knows who she’s talking about. “Yeah, Banana, she’s here.”


	6. Chapter 6

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> "Broken window."

As soon as Hannah and Ethan walk through the door Lex grabs her sister in a tight embrace.

“I’m okay, Lexi.” Hannah says. “Webby says you saw mum.”

“Yeah.”

“She’s with someone else.” She takes a step back. “Someone’s helping her. Someone who knows us but who we don’t know.”

“Helping her do what?” Lex was worried, who would possibly help their mum, and what was she doing?

Hannah just shook her head. “Bad motive.” Was all she said. She went and sat on the couch frowning at the middle distance.

Ethan wrapped an arm around Lex. “Are you okay?”

“Not until she’s gone.” She straightened suddenly seeming to have remembered something. “I need to check on Ebbi.” She left the room.

Ethan crouched in front of Hannah. “How are you going, Split?”

“Not meant to be here. No right.”

“What do you mean by that?” He put a hand on her knee.

She says nothing, just rubs her forehead with her fingertips, trying to sort out her thoughts.

Ethan stands back up as Lex re-enters the room, Ebony in her arms.

“I remembered what I heard her say.” She says, voice trembling slightly. “She was saying something about wanting to wait, about not wanting to deal with a sick kid.” She sat down on the couch.

“No right.” Hannah said nodding, as if something now made sense that hadn’t before.

Ethan was just confused. “What does that mean?”

“I don’t know.” Lex sighed. “Why would she be dealing with a sick kid? She’s never dealt with a sick kid before. Whenever Hannah or I got sick we just had to deal with it ourselves.”

“No right.” Hannah said again, more insistent this time, trying to get them to understand what she was saying.

“What do you mean, Banana?” Ethan sat next to her.

“No right.” She said, pleading for him to understand her.

“Does Webby say anything else?” He asked. Maybe if the spider from outer space had more to say he and Lex may be able to piece together the meaning.

Hannah frowned. “No right. Stay safe.” She looked up at him, right into his eyes. “She knows we’re here.”

Lex becomes stiff and rigid at the words. “How can we stay safe if she knows where we live?” She mutters.

“We’ll be okay, babe.” He puts a hand on her shoulder. “Even if she knows where we live doesn’t mean she can get to us here.” He needed to figure out why Lesley Foster was here so that he   
could send her back to Hatchetfield and keep his family safe. Just knowing she was in California was torturing Lex. He knew that she was just reliving every bit of harm inflicted on her by her   
mother, harm that she thought she’d left behind in Hatchetfield. He knew what he had to do.

He stood up. “I’m going to go find her.”

“Are you fucking crazy?”

He knelt in front of Lex, one hand holding hers the other cupping her cheek. “Babe, I can see what just the thought of her is doing to you. I can’t let her get anywhere near you, so I’m going to   
make sure she goes the fuck back to Hatchetfield before she has the chance to get close to any of you.” He stands back up and makes for the door.

“No.” Hannah says, stopping him. “Not yet.”

“Not yet?”

“Someone else. Outnumbered.”

He’d forgotten that Hannah had said that her mum was working with someone else. He would be outnumbered. He didn’t really care, he’d do anything to protect his family. Before he can   
continue to go, however, Hannah gets up off the couch and grabs his hand.

“Not yet.” She whispers.  
He sighs. “Okay, not yet.”

She takes him back to the couch where he sits next to Lex, Hannah climbing into his lap.

* * *

Ethan couldn’t sleep. He’d been lying in bed for hours and had lost hope that he’d be getting any sleep that night. He was too worried about what could happen.

Lex was lying with her head on his shoulder. She had taken one of his hands and was holding in in a loose grasp. He hadn’t moved in the many hours they’d been lying like this so that he   
wouldn’t risk waking her. 

Hannah was curled into Lex’s side, neither sister had wanted to be separated, so Hannah had joined him and Lex for the night. Ebony was the only one of the family not curled up on the bed, she   
remained in her cot for the night. Her new medicine seemed to be doing her some good, as she hadn’t woken up crying all night.

“Ethan, you awake?” Hannah whispered, sticking her head up from behind Lex’s shoulder.

“Yeah.”

“I’m scared.”

He turned his head so he could see her and saw the scared look on her face. “She’s not going to hurt you, Banana.” He reached his hand that hadn’t been claimed by Lex over to her.

She took it and began playing with his fingers. “No right. Outnumbered.”

“She’s not going to outnumber us, Split.” He gave her hand a squeeze.

She didn’t answer.

Ebony woke up and began to cry softly. Ethan gave Hannah’s hand another squeeze before extracting himself from Lex and picking up the baby.

“It’s okay, Ebbi, dad’s got you.” He rocked her gently in his arms and she calmed down. He went back over to the bed and sat down, resting his head against the headboard. 

Hannah sat up, hair tangled around her head. She crawled over the still sleeping Lex and sat in his lap. Ethan moved Ebony so she was lying in Hannah’s lap and wrapped his hands around them.   
He kissed the top of her head and shifted a bit so that they were laying down a bit more. Hannah rested Ebony tummy down on her shoulder.

“Try to get some sleep, ‘kay?” He whispered.

“You sleep too.”

“I’ll try, split.”

She accepted this answer and silently fell asleep after a few minutes, Ebony sleeping on her shoulder. He did try to sleep, but was unsuccessful.

After a few more hours of failing to sleep Lex awoke and saw that he was awake.

“Hey.” She said, shifting closer to him. “Why aren’t you asleep?”

“Couldn’t.” He said, a yawn punctuating his words.

“So you played ‘stacks on’ with the girls?” She said noticing that Ethan was covered in children.

“Pretty much.”

“Do you need freeing?”

“Nah, I’m alright.” He never minded when Hannah and Ebony sat on him. “You should go back to sleep, babe.” He wrapped an arm around her and she rests her head on his shoulder once more.

“I know.”

Before she could, however, Hannah began moving in her sleep, making small whimpering noises. Lex took Ebony off of her and she and Ethan began to rouse Hannah from her presumably bad   
dream.

“Hey, wake up, Banana, it’s not real.” Lex said gently as Ethan sat them up.

Hannah woke up crying and only waited for Lex to move Ebony before falling into her arms.

“Shh, it’s okay, it wasn’t real.” She soothed, rocking Hannah back and forth.

Hannah shakes her head and buries herself into Lex’s embrace. “Real.”

“It was just a dream, Banana.” Ethan says rubbing her back.

“Bad dream.”

“Yeah it was just a bad dream, but it can’t hurt you now.” Lex says.

“Promise.”

“Promise.” They exchange a pinkie promise and Hannah is gradually able to calm down. “Do you wanna go back to sleep?” 

She shakes her head.

“Do you wanna talk about your dream?”

She sits up a bit so she can talk easier. “Broken window.”

“There was a broken window?”

Hannah nods. “Broken window. The people got in. The watching ones. Mum and bad lady.” She looks up at Lex to see what she thought.

Lex spent a few moments trying to piece together Hannah’s dream. She gathered that a broken window allowed their mum and whoever was helping her get into somewhere and they were the   
people who’d been watching them? She could see how that could seem so real to Hannah.

“None of our windows are broken, Banana. They can’t get in.” She said.

“Plus we’re too high up.” Ethan added. “Does Webby think they’ll get in?”

Hannah though for a moment, listening to whatever Webby was telling her. “Can’t get in without broken window.”

“And we don’t have any, so you’re safe here.” Lex said.

“Ebbi too?”

“Yes, Ebbi too.”

Hannah nodded slightly, accepting this. She relaxed into Lex’s arms.

* * *

None of them got any more sleep by the time the sun begins to rise and Ethan is definitely feeling the lack of sleep. It makes him feel especially bad for Lex the previous night where she had very   
little sleep. He was just glad it was his day off so he didn’t have to worry about falling asleep at work.

“We need to figure out what to do.” Lex says.

“Huh?”

“We need to figure out what to do about mum, because I refuse to feel the need to stay locked up in here because she might be out there.”

“Right.” He agreed. They couldn’t live fearing her potential presence. “Any ideas?”

“Well, we need to know what she’s up to and who she’s working with. If she’s here for some reason that has nothing to do with us that’s good. We won’t have to worry about her coming after us.   
But we don’t know that yet. I also want to know how she got here. She doesn’t have a car and has no where near enough money for a flight.”

“She could’ve hitch-hiked.”

“Who would be crazy enough to give my mum a lift?”

Ethan shrugged. “There are crazy people out there. Or maybe she caught a bus?”

“Are there buses from Hatchetfield to California?”

“Might be. If not Clivesdale probably has one.” He grabbed himself a bowl of cereal and began eating. “Why does it matter how she got here?”

“If we know then we can stop her coming back, right?”

“How do you plan on doing that?” 

Lex shrugged, beginning to eat her breakfast of a banana.

“Don’t eat me, Lexi.” Hannah said. She said this every time she saw anyone eating a banana.

“Don’t worry, this is just a boring banana, not a Hannah Banana.”

“Good.” She walks over to Ethan. “Can you make toast, please?”

He frowns. “You know how to make toast.”

“Not Ethan toast.”

“What’s Ethan toast?” Lex asked, heavily suspecting it was some sugary concoction like his pancakes.

“Cinnamon toast.” He explains.

“That’s too much sugar, Hannah. You can have peanut butter, jam or vegemite.”

“Jam’s got sugar, Ethan toast doesn’t have that much.” Hannah says.

“Okay, then you can have peanut butter or vegemite.” She knew jam was Hannah’s favourite option of spread.

“I’ll have jam.” She relented and went and made herself jam toast, cutting off the crusts before turning them into toast soldiers. She joined Ethan and Lex at the table to eat.

Ebony who was sitting on Lex’s lap tried to grab some of Hannah’s toast, only managing to get a bit of jam.

Hannah moves her plate away. “My toast, Ebbi. You’re too little for it.”

Ebony didn’t seem to mind not getting the bread part and happily began to paint Lex’s shirt with the jam she’d gotten.

“Ebbi!” Lex huffed through a mouthful of banana. She stands up with the baby and goes over to the sink to wash the sticky mess off of her hands. She then hands Ebony over to Ethan so she can   
go and get changed.

“You can’t put jam on mum, Ebbi.” He says.

Ebony just tries to grab his cereal.

He pushes it out of the way. “You’re in a grabby mood, aren’t you? Here, you can play with this.” He gives her his spoon and drinks the remainder of his cereal.

After inspecting the spoon she begins to bang it on the table.

“On second thought, that’s not such a good idea.” He extracts the spoon from her grasp. He gets up and returns his crockery and utensil to the kitchen. He holds her against his shoulder and she   
reaches up and grabs a handful of his hair, experimenting with the curls. “Okay, you can play with my hair as long as you don’t pull it.”

She giggles as she yanks his hair.

“Ouch.” He pulls her away and holds her in front of him. “No more playing with my hair.”

Hannah starts giggling at the scene from the table.

“Don’t you laugh at me, Banana.”

“Are they making fun of you?” Lex said, emerging with a new shirt on. She kisses him on the cheek and takes Ebony from him. “Were you being mean to dad?”

“She definitely was. She pulled my hair.”

Lex ruffled his hair. “I’m sure you’ll live.” She let out a little laugh.

“It’s not funny!”

Ebony then yanked Lex’s hair. “Ow. Ebbi!” 

“See? It’s not so funny, is it?”

Hannah continued to laugh at them over her breakfast.

Lex detangles Ebony’s fingers from her hair and finds a soft toy for her to play with instead.

With how things had gone so far this morning, Ethan had the feeling that it was going to be a long day. He loved his family more than anything, but he was going to have a rough time of being   
home with them all day on no sleep. He’ll try to get a nap in sometime. And maybe they can figure out what the Foster mother was planning.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I didn't know how to wrap up with chapter, so that's what you got. Also I'm super tired and my meds were acting up yesterday so I have no idea how much of this chapter actually makes sense, but well done if you made it through it.


	7. Chapter 7

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> "Lexi, come quick."

It had been several weeks since Lex saw her mother and things had been relatively normal. They had been taking extra care when going out though. Lex and Ethan always picked up or dropped   
off Hannah well inside her school’s gates and whenever Lex went out on her own with Ebony she’d go in the busier times of the day so that there were more people around. She hadn’t had the   
feeling of being watched as much any more and on the occasion she did feel it she’d head straight home and lock the door.

Because of Hannah’s bad dream she insisted on making sure none of the windows were broken and that they were all locked when she went to bed each night. It was tedious but it was good to   
make sure their windows were in working order. She had been having more nightmares like the first and whenever she had one, she’d sneak into Lex and Ethan’s room and cuddle up with her   
sister. 

“Another bad dream?” Lex asked the night of the most recent nightmare when she awoke to find Hannah wriggling in between her and Ethan.

She nodded into Lex’s chest, wrapping her arms around her.

Lex ran her fingers through her sister’s hair. “It’s just a dream, Banana, it can’t hurt you.” She kisses the top of her head.

“Broken window, Lexi.”

“None of the windows are broken, you and Ethan checked before bed, remember?” She rubbed her back. “Try to go back to sleep, okay?”

Hannah shook her head and began to cry. “Not home window.”

Lex frowned. “Was this dream different?”

Ethan began to stir, being awoken by Hannah’s cries.

“Bad lady. Car. Broken window.”

“Bad dream?” Ethan asks softly.

Lex nods.

“Hey, Banana.” He rubs her back. “Wanna tell us what the dream was about?”

“Bad lady. Car. Broken window.”

“The car’s new. What happened with the car?” He hadn’t heard her mention cars in any of her other dreams.

“Bad car.” Hannah hadn’t looked up at him, just said the words into Lex’s chest.

“What’s so bad about the car?”

“Dark. Trapped.”

“Where you stuck in the car? Somewhere that was dark?”

She doesn’t reply for a while, and then nods slightly. 

“Okay, so you were probably in the boot if it was dark. Did the bad lady put you in the boot?”

She doesn’t answer.

“Did you know that car boots have a secret compartment?”

She looks over at him, frowning, not quite believing in the secret compartment. She then looks up at Lex to see if he was telling the truth.

Lex nods.

“The stuff in there normally isn’t useful everyday, but if you’re ever stuck in a boot you go to the secret compartment and you can get a wrench or something and if someone put you in there,   
when they open up the boot you’ll have a weapon, and they won’t be expecting that.”

Hannah nods slowly, considering this.

Lex gives him a look telling him to not go around getting Hannah to use violence. There was no violence allowed in their household.

“Where?” Hannah asked, turning around in Lex’s arms so that she was facing Ethan.

“I’ll show you in the morning, right now you need to get some sleep, you’ve got school tomorrow.” He brushes the loose hair out of her eyes.

She thinks for a moment before nodding and closing her eyes, getting herself into a comfortable position squashed between Lex and Ethan.

Lex waits for Hannah to fall asleep before she speaks. “Why are telling her to use weapons?”

“Babe, I’m not telling her to use them. It’s just to reassure her. She was scared about someone sticking her in a boot and I just wanted to find a way that would make her feel safer if she ever was   
in that situation, which isn’t going to happen, so she’ll never have to hit someone with tools or whatever.” He took Lex’s hand.

“Yeah, but what if she gets the wrong idea and thinks it’s okay to hurt people that scare her?”

“Have you even met Hannah? She’s the sweetest kid I’ve ever met, she wouldn’t hurt a fly.”

“I just… I’m just worried about her. She keeps having these dreams and she seems so convinced that they’re real.” She leans into him as he wraps an arm around her.

“I know.” He presses a kiss to the top of her head. “I’m worried about her too. We’re all a bit stressed right now, and I think that’s where these nightmares are coming from.”

“Yeah, but I don’t think she understands that.” Lex sighs, running her fingers through Hannah’s hair. “I hope that everything with mum gets all sorted out soon so we can put her behind us.”

“Me too, babe.”

* * *

Lex went to pick up Hannah from school. She waited for her in the usual place inside the school gates, but Hannah hadn’t appeared yet. The bell had rung several minutes ago and students had   
streamed out of their classrooms. Where was Hannah?

She was starting to get worried when one of the teachers came up to her.

“Excuse me, are you Hannah Foster’s mum?” The teacher asked. She wore a nametag that read Paige Turner.

“Yeah, is she okay?” Lex and Ethan had accepted being referred to as Hannah’s parents. They basically were anyway, and it just saved a lot of time explaining their relationship to Hannah.

“She’s okay, she just had a panic attack while leaving class.” Paige explained.

“Okay, where is she?”

Paige guides her to the classroom Hannah was in when she had her panic attack. Lex follows pushing Ebony in the stroller.

“Do you know what caused her to panic?”

She shrugs. “Not sure, the only thing I can think of is maybe the bell?”

“Okay.”

It doesn’t take much longer for them to reach Hannah. Another teacher stands nearby, trying to comfort her with no success. Lex goes straight over to her and crouches down in front of her.

“Hey, Banana.” She says softly.

Hannah looks up slightly from where she sits hugging her knees to her chest. “Lexi?”

“Yeah, I’m here.” She holds out a hand and Hannah slowly takes it, allowing Lex to pull her into a hug, rocking her back and forth. “You’re okay, I’ve got you.”

She said nothing, holding onto Lex’s shirt in tight fists. 

“Can you tell me what’s wrong?”

Hannah shook her head. “Not here.”

“Okay, do you want to go home?”

“Can’t yet.”

“Okay, Banana.”

They sit there for a while as Hannah calms down.

“Ebbi cuddle?” Hannah asked.

“Well, do you want to carry her while we head home?”

She nodded and the two of them stood up, Hannah scooping the baby out of the stroller. Lex put Hannah’s schoolbag into the stroller and they headed out of the school.

On the way back to their apartment Hannah would talk to Ebony and she’d make her baby talk in return. It looked like they were having a real conversation. Lex couldn’t help but smile at the   
scene. She’d caught them doing this a few times. It really was just like they were having a normal conversation, judging from Hannah’s half. Lex was fairly certain that with all of this Ebony would   
be babbling soon. She and Ethan had already started to bet on what her first word would be.

If Ebony’s first word was ‘mum’ or some sort of variant on the word, Ethan would have to do Lex’s share of the cooking and laundry for a week. If her first word was ‘dad’ then Lex had to make   
him breakfast in bed for a week. Though the stakes would undoubtedly grow the closer Ebony got to speaking.

Halfway home Ebony got too heavy for Hannah and was she was put back into the stroller for the remainder of the walk home. Now that she was no longer holding Ebony, Hannah held onto the   
side of the stroller.

As soon as they were inside the apartment Hannah grabbed Ebony back out of the pram and curled up on the couch with her.

“You hungry, Banana?” Lex asked kissing her head.

She shook her head and pulled the baby closer to her. Ebony squirmed a little patting Hannah’s face.

“Don’t hold her so tightly, Hannah.”

Hannah did so and moved the two of them to the blanket on the living room floor that held some of Ebony’s toys and the two began to play together.

Lex left them too it, packing away the stroller and taking Hannah’s bag to her room, checking her school diary to see what homework she had to do. There was only a page of maths problems to   
do, which Hannah would complete fairly easily; she was becoming quite the maths wiz.

“Lexi, com quick!” Hannah called from the living room. Lex rushed out to see what was happening.

“What’s wrong?”

“Not wrong. Look.” Hannah held a toy up just out of Ebony’s reach, who was trying to grab it. Hannah then moved the toy to the side and in the effort to grab it Ebony rolled over.

“Would you look at that.” Lex sat down and brought Ebony into her arms, who was now holding the toy. “Aren’t you clever.” She smiled, kissing her daughter on the nose.

“She’s smart.” Hannah bounced in her spot on the floor, excited at the milestone Ebony had achieved. She reached over and tickled her tummy. Ebony began giggling and trying to bat her hands   
away.

It was at that moment that Ethan came home.

“You girls look like your having fun.” He said seeing the three smiling faces from the floor.

“Come here.” Lex waved him over. “You have to see what Ebbi learned.” She laid Ebony on her back and Hannah took the toy from her and showed Ethan what she’d just shown Lex.

“Wow.” Ethan scooped Ebony from the floor. “Who’s the smartest baby ever?” He tickled her.

Lex wrapped an arm around him, kissing his cheek.

“Lexi?” Hannah looked up at her.

“Yeah?”

“Was I a smart baby?”

“Yes, you were always so clever at figuring out how to do things.” Lex crouches next to her, running a hand through her hair. “It took you longer to reach some milestones than others, because of how sensitive you are to touching things. It took you a while to roll over because you didn’t like anything touching your tummy.”

“How old was I when I rolled over?”

Lex took a moment to remember. “I think you were around eight or nine months old? I’ve got it all written down. I can go find that notebook if you want to have a look at it?”

Hannah nodded eagerly. She’d never really been that curious about what she was like as a baby until Ebony was born.

Lex got up and went into her’s and Ethan’s bedroom grabbing a box down from the top of the wardrobe. It was a box filled with everything related to Hannah that she deemed special or   
important or just something that Hannah might want one day. She dug around for a bit until she found the old yellow notebook she’d written all of Hannah’s milestones in. She hadn’t written in   
it since Hannah had started school in California. She had a similar box filled with Ebony related things, but it wasn’t quite as full yet.

Lex brought it out to the living room. Hannah, Ethan and Ebony had moved to the couch in this time. Lex sat on the other side of Hannah and handed her the book.

Hannah opened the book reading through her early milestones. First smile, first laugh, first wave and so on.

“My first word was ‘Webby’?” She looked up from the notebook. It was open on a page dedicated to all the words Hannah learnt until she hit her next milestone.

Lex nodded. “Yeah, I remember finding that kind of confusing. You just pointed at a spider and said ‘Webby’. I’d no idea where you’d heard that word before, but it makes sense now.”

Hannah nodded. She read down the list. Webby, Lexi, ta, yes, no, see, bye, mum, sad. About halfway through the list she spotted Ethan’s name. The date written next to it indicated that she’d   
been about fourteen months at the time.

“I’ve known you a long time.” She says to him.

He nods.

“You could say his name after about knowing him two weeks, was it?” Lex says.

“Yeah, something like that.” Ethan agreed. “You couldn’t make the ‘th’ sound though, so I was Et’an.”

Hannah laughed. “Sounds like I ate you.”

“That’s what I said.” He ruffled her hair.

They spent the remainder of the evening like that, curled up on the couch together reading through Hannah’s baby book. When it began to get late Lex took Hannah off to bed, tucking her in.

“You look like you feel better than from when I picked you up.” She commented.

Hannah nodded stiffly.

“Do you think you can tell me why you had a panic attack?”

“Though I saw mum.” She said quietly.

“You saw mum?” Lex felt herself overcome with worry.

She nodded. “From classroom I can see the fence. Thought I saw her watching.”

Lex wrapped her arms around her. “She can’t get to you at school. You’re safe there and you’re safe here.”

“She can come into school.”

Lex shook her head. “She’s not registered with the school as someone who can pick you up. Only Ethan and me can do that. She can’t get you there.”

“Promise?”

“Promise.”


	8. Chapter 8

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> "Can't go. Bad lady. Broken Window."

“No school.” Hannah said, sitting on her bedroom floor.

“Are you worried you’ll see mum there? Because I told you she can’t get you when you’re at school.” Lex sighed.

“Can’t go. Bad lady. Broken window.”

“Nothing bad will happen at school.”

“Not at school.”

“What do you mean by that, Hannah?”

She shook her head and curled up with her knees to her chest.

“You need to go to school, come on.” Lex attempted to pick up Hannah so she’d put her feet on the ground.

“NO!” She cried, flailing her arms and legs, subsequently hitting Lex.

“Hannah!” She took a step back surprised.

Hannah realised what she’d don and began to cry. “Sorry, Lexi. Didn’t mean it.”

She crouched down and hugged her sister. “I know. It’s okay.” She rocked her back and forth. “Can you tell me what’s going on?”

“Can’t go. Bad lady. Broken window.”

“No one can get to you while you’re at school, Banana.” She smoothed back Hannah’s hair.

“Not at school.”

“What’s not at school?”

“Bad things.” She hugged Lex tighter.

“Where are the bad things then?”

“Outside.”

Ethan walked into her room. “We’ve gotta go, Banana.” He spots her on the floor curled into Lex. He crouches down and rubs her back. “What’s wrong?”

“Can’t go. Bad lady. Broken window.” Her voice is muffled as she presses her face into Lex.

“You’ve still got my magic hat, haven’t you? That’ll protect you.” He takes it off of the shelf it had been sitting on, placing it backwards on her head.

Hannah sits up, brushing the hat flush on her head. “Magic hat.”

“See, there you go, nothing to worry about now, so let’s get going.” He takes her hand and pulls her to her feet. She hugs his arm tightly. “I’ll see you later, babe.” He gives Lex a kiss.

“See you, have a good day.”

Ethan and Hannah make their way out of the apartment, Hannah still clinging tightly to his arm. 

Lex hoped everything would be alright. She knew realistically that nothing bad was going to happen, but Hannah had a different perception of the world and the smallest thing could be seen as   
very bad to her. She knew that Ethan would get her off to school and that if anything went wrong he’d call her. Everything would be okay.

* * *

Lex had kept her phone on hand all day in case Hannah had a panic attack and needed to be picked up. Always on days that required the magic hat Hannah was more likely to have a panic   
attack. The hat may be ‘magic’ but no amount of magic, real or placebo could deter panic attacks. 

Lex had been trying to have Hannah not rely on the hat as much anymore. She was getting older and needed to learn how to get through bad days without needing it. Ethan thought it was fine   
though, so would always use it. Lex had convinced him, however, to try and only use it sparingly.

She made the walk to Hannah’s school and waited for her inside the gates at the usual pickup point. The whole time walking there, she’d felt on edge. She had the feeling of being watched, but   
couldn’t turn back because she needed to pick up Hannah. She continued to have that feeling while waiting for her sister to emerge from her classroom.

As Hannah walked towards her she appeared to have the same uneasiness as Lex.

“Hey, Banana, have a good day?” She asked

Hannah shrugged, fiddling with the cuffs of her sleeves. “Can I carry Ebbi?”

“Yep.”

She took Ebony out of the stroller holding her tightly as the three of them left the school grounds.

It was becoming windy as they walked their way home. Hannah and Ebony were having one of their half conversations. The closer they got to the apartment the more Lex stopped noticing the 

feeling of being watched as much. Knowing she was close to home allowed her to feel more at ease. The closer they were to home the safer they were, right?

A sudden gust of strong wind swept over them, ripping the hat from Hannah’s head.

“Magic hat!” She cried, running after it as best she could while still holing Ebony.

“Hannah, be careful!” Lex called after her. She didn’t want Hannah to trip on the pavement while holding the baby.

As Hannah gained on the hat someone brushed past Lex and she was suddenly overcome with a feeling of dread.

Hannah seemed to have the same feeling as she froze moments away from the hat. 

The person who had brushed past Lex was headed right in the direction of Hannah, who looked up at the person, a woman, like a deer in the headlights. Lex saw her lips move but couldn’t make   
out what she was saying.

Things moved as if in slow motion. The woman ran at Hannah, who was still holding Ebony. She desperately reached for the hat but the woman got to her first. She wasn’t their mother, but did   
have the air of familiarity to Lex, though she couldn’t place where from.

The woman scooped up Hannah and Ebony faster than Lex could process what was happening. They two girls were shoved into the back of a car that had pulled up on the curb next to them, the   
woman swiftly climbing into the passenger seat before the car began to drive away.

Things sped up again as Lex let out a cry of surprised horror and began running after the car. She ran faster than she’d ever ran before, leaving the stroller and Hannah’s schoolbag forgotten in   
the middle of the pavement. 

She doesn’t know how long she’s been running for when the car pulls out onto the freeway. As the car turns she gets a glimpse of her mother in the driver’s side. She tries to follow the car, but it   
speeds up and she soon looses sight of it. Shit.

Lex stood there starring off at where the car had disappeared. Her breath was laboured, both from the running and the onset of panic. She didn’t know what to do. Tears began to fall down her   
cheeks.

Ethan. She needed to call Ethan; he’d know what to do. He had a car he could chase them down. Lex fumbled with her phone, which had miraculously stayed in her jacket pocket.

He picked up the phone after a few rings.

“Ethan?”

“’Tis I.” He said. His voice was casual.

“How are you so calm?” Her voice came out loud and panicky.

“Why shouldn’t I be?” He was becoming concerned at her tone. “Babe, is everything okay?”

“Fuck, Ethan, no it’s not.”

“What happened?”

“They’re gone!”

“Who are gone? Gone where?” He kept his voice level to try and soothe her as best he could over the phone while still trying to figure out what was going on. Ethan found that when Lex was very   
stressed or upset she ended up talking a bit like Hannah, though unlike Hannah she could after some coaxing give a straightforward answer.

“Mum took them. I lost sight of them, Ethan! I… I don’t know where they are.” She was on the brink of all out sobs.

“Lex, who did your mum take?” He had a sickening feeling as to what the answer would be.

“Hannah and Ebony.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> You were right, Neuronary


	9. Chapter 9

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> "Dark place. Broken window."

“Will you get that thing to shut the fuck up!” She yelled back at them from the driver’s seat.

Hannah sat terrified in the backseat, still holding Ebony who was crying furiously. The shout only caused her to cry harder.

“You, Good-for-nothing, get that baby to shut up!” She hit Hannah hard on the leg, the only part she could reach from the front of the car.

Hannah whimpered and curled up in her seat, hugging Ebony tight. She didn’t like it in this car with her mum and bad lady. They were loud and mean and scary. 

“Obey you mother, child!” Bad lady said, turning to glare at her. She looked older than her mum. “Should’ve taught the kid some fucking respect.” She mutters.

Hannah didn’t know what to do. She couldn’t calm down Ebony when she was crying because of the noise. “She doesn’t like your voices.” She whispers.

“The fuck you just say, Good-for-nothing?”

“She doesn’t like your voices.” She says a little louder this time.

“That’s a stupid piece of shit. You’re just useless, that’s what you are. Useless because that pathetic sister of yours did everything for you. Turned you into a fucking retard, that’s what she did. I   
should’ve aborted the two of you when I had the chance.”

Silent tears began to fall down her cheeks. It hadn’t been often she was the centre of her mother’s abuse. Lex always made sure of that. That made Lex brave, not pathetic. Lexi always protected   
her and that was a good thing.

Her mother saw that she was crying. “Pathetic piece of useless shit.” 

* * *

“Right, okay, I’m coming. Where are you?” Ethan said, heading out of his workplace without a backwards glance.

“Fuck. I don’t know. I don’t know where I am.” Panic rose high within Lex.

“Do you know where you were when they were taken? Try and retrace your steps and I’ll meet you there.”

“I was near Bauer Street, I think.” She began to try and retrace her journey.

“Okay, I’ll see you there.”

“Yeah, okay.” She hung up, continuing to cling to the phone. It took her a long time to find the spot where the girls had been taken. Still, she gets there before Ethan. 

She crouches down on the pavement where the ‘magic’ hat had fallen. She picks it up, holding it tightly to her chest as tears drip down her face.

Ethan finds her like that a few minutes later. He sits besides her, drawing her into his embrace.

“The hat blew off, so Hannah chased after it. She was holding Ebbi. And this woman just took them. Shoved them in a car with mum and drove off. And I didn’t do anything.” She let out a choked   
sob. “I’m the worst mother in the world.”

“No you’re not.” He cups her cheek, forcing her to look at him. “You didn’t know this was going to happen. Hell, no one knew this was going to happen. You can’t blame yourself.” He stands,   
bringing her up with him.

“Hannah knew. She didn’t want to go to school because of something bad that would happen outside of it. I didn’t listen and now they’re gone.”

He shakes his head. “This isn’t your fault, Lex. It doesn’t matter what happened in the past, what matter is that we get our girls back.”

She nods, taking his hand. “We’ve gotta get them back.”

Lex jumped into the passenger seat of Ethan’s car while he quickly dumped the stroller into the boot before joining her up front. 

“Do you remember which way they went?” He asked.

She nodded and began to guide him towards the freeway. It was the same freeway they had taken when they first arrived in California. There was no doubt in their minds that Lesley Foster was   
taking them back to Hatchetfield.

They followed the road in silence for a long while.

“Do you think they’re okay?” Lex asked, breaking the silence.

“In all honesty, I don’t know, babe. I hope so.” Ethan grabbed her hand, giving it a squeeze.

“They’ll be so scared. Hannah’s probably having a panic attack and Ebbi’s just a baby. What if mum hurts them?”

“They’ll be okay, Lex. Hannah’s a tough kid, and surely your mum wouldn’t hurt a baby.”

“You didn’t see what she was like when Hannah was a baby. She wouldn’t even acknowledge her existence unless she was crying. Then mum would try to hurt her. One time she tried to strangle   
her, Ethan.” Lex shuddered at the memory. Her drunk mother furious at Hannah’s soft cries. Her mother’s fingers going for Hannah’s neck, Lex stepping in the way to stop her.

“That’s not going to happen.”

“You can’t know that.”

“They’re in a car. As long as they’re in that car your mum won’t be able to hurt them if she’s driving like you said.”

She let the logic sink in, calming her slightly before she remembered that there was another woman with her mum. “What about the other woman? She could still hurt them.”

“Whoever this woman is, she can’t be as bad as your mum, right?”

* * *

Ebony was still crying. It didn’t help with the amount of sound that was assaulting Hannah. Her mother still hadn’t stopped shouting even though they were the reason Ebony was crying. It was   
her voice, her’s and bad lady’s. Ebony didn’t like them.

“Right!” Her mum shouted. “You, Fucking useless retard, get that fucking mongrel to shut up before I shut it up myself!”

Hannah knew she meant it. “Shush Ebbi.” She tried to get her to quieten, whispering softly. “Webby says mum and dad are coming.” As always, Webby’s words calm Ebony down. She stopped   
crying, though still looked rather upset. Hopefully mum and bad lady didn’t talk loud enough for Ebony to hear. They’re voices were bad colours.

“Thank fuck.” Bad lady said.

Hannah turned to look out of the back window, hoping that she might see Lex and Ethan coming to rescue them.

“What the fuck are you doing retard?” Her mum said.

Hannah turned back around and slumped in her seat. “Dark place. Broken window.” She muttered as Webby spoke the words to her.

“What’s wrong with that kid, you drop her on her head or something?” Bad lady asked her mum.

“I ain’t done squat with that fucking useless thing. That’s all her sister’s doing. I told you, made her a retard. I’d happily forget she ever existed, you know that, but I need the cash.”

“Bad motive.” Hannah whispered, soft enough that the women in the front seat didn’t hear her. 

Ebony cooed, agreeing with Hannah and Webby.

“Well, the hard part’s over now, Lesley.” Bad lady said.

“Would’ve been over sooner if not for all the fucking reconnaissance you insisted on.”

“If we didn’t do that we wouldn’t know about that baby. More cash for you.”

“True. That spawn of my daughter’s better be worth it for all the noise she makes.”

Ebony heard their voices and was brought to the verge of crying.

“Bad motive. Dark place.” Hannah muttered. This time her mother heard her.

“What did you say, Good-for-nothing?”

Hannah shook her head, trying to disappear into the car seat.

“Answer your mother.” Bad lady said.

“Bad motive. Dark place.” She whispered.

“Fucking crazy.”

Ebony began to cry.

“I thought I told you to keep that thing quiet!” Her mum yelled, causing Ebony to cry harder.

“Doesn’t like your voices. Bad colours.” She says.

“I’ve had enough.” Her mum pulls over to the side of the road. She gets out of the car and opens the back door. “Out!”

Hannah shook her head and shrunk back.

Bad lady went to the other door, opening it. “Get out, kid. If you won’t respect your mother, at least respect your grandmother.”

Hannah’s eyes grew wide as she looked up at bad lady. Her mum grabbed her and she screamed. So did Ebony, but her mum took no notice. The sensation of touch was overwhelming, burning   
through her nervous system.

Bad lady opened the boot and Hannah and Ebony were shoved inside, the door slamming closed plunging them into darkness.

* * *

Lex was holding one of his hands while the other had a white-knuckled grip on the steering wheel. His left leg bounced up and down with nervous energy. On the inside he was trying not to give   
in to full blow panic. He and Lex were facing every parent’s worst nightmare. Their kids had been taken from them. He didn’t care about the biology of it; Hannah was as much their kid as Ebony   
was. 

He hated himself for not being there when it happened. Maybe if he’d been there he could have stopped it from happening. But Lex had been there and she hadn’t been able to do anything. He   
hated this situation. He just wanted to find his girls and bring them home safely.

Ethan also hated that it had happened in the moment that Hannah wasn’t wearing the hat. In the moment she felt most unsafe and now she was in dangers arms without the one object that   
made her feel brave. He knew the hat wasn’t magic, like he’d told Hannah, but if she had it she wouldn’t feel as scared as she undoubtedly was currently feeling.

He was scared for Ebony too. She was a baby, only five months old. She couldn’t defend herself and she needed her parents. Ethan had never seen how Lesley acted towards babies, but Lex had   
told him a few stories from when Hannah was tiny. He hated that those things had happened to Hannah, and most likely Lex too; he didn’t want them to happen to Ebony.

He kept all of these thoughts to himself. Saying them out loud wouldn’t help and if he started speaking he’d start crying, and Lex needed him to keep it together.

Suddenly she gasped and sat up straighter. “Look, Ethan.” She pointed out the front window to a car that was pulling back onto the highway. “That’s them. That’s the car.”

“You sure?”

“Yes.”

He made sure to keep an eye on the car, never letting it out of his sight for more than a few seconds. He’d make sure to follow them, but stay far enough back so that it wasn’t obvious and so   
that he and Lex couldn’t be seen through Lesley’s rear-view.

They were so close to getting the girls back. He didn’t know how they were going to do it, but that didn’t matter. They were going home. All of them together, and nothing was going to stop him   
from making that happen.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I weirdly found it fun to write things for the Foster mum to say. Writing mean people is a lot of fun.
> 
> Also kudos to whoever figures out what the whole bad colours thing means (because I've known since before this fic had multiple chapters)


	10. Chapter 10

She couldn’t see anything in the darkness. She didn’t mind though. It was nice not having to worry about sight it eased away her panic. It seemed to help Ebony too, as she’d stopped crying. The muffled voices of her mum and bad lady could still be heard but Hannah figured that Ebony couldn’t see the colours in the dark boot so they didn’t bother her anymore.

“Better hope they can breathe back there.” Bad lady said.

“Boots aren’t airtight, mum.”

“I’m just saying, you want them alive don’t you? Otherwise you don’t get child benefits.”

“You think I don’t fucking know that?”

They spoke some more but not loudly enough for Hannah to make out the words.

She couldn’t sit up in the boot, but she could lie down with almost straight legs. She did so, laying Ebony on top of her.

“Webby says boot is better.” She says. 

Ebony doesn’t react.

Hannah lifts her so that they are face to face. As her eyes adjust to the darkness she can make out the outline of her face. 

“Can you see my colour, Ebbi?” She asks, speaking a little louder than before.

Ebony pats her face as a response.

“I’m not sure if that’s a yes or a no.” She lays Ebony back down on her chest.

“We’ll need to stop for petrol in an hour or so.” Her mum said.

“Should get something to eat while we’re there.” Bad lady replied.

“Yeah, I’m starving.”

They’re quiet for a moment.

“You reckon we get something for the kids?” Bad lady asked.

Lesley scoffed. “They’ll be fine.”

Hannah hears her stomach grumble. She hadn’t eaten since morning recess. Ebony was getting fussy too, Hannah wasn’t sure when the last time she ate was. Probably before Lex came to pick   
her up from school. 

That felt like days ago. Back when things were normal, though she knew it couldn’t be much longer than a few hours, she didn’t have a watch so she wasn’t sure. 

She missed Lex. And Ethan. She didn’t want to be stuck in the boot of her mum’s car being taken to who knows where. She felt the tears begin to prickle at the corner of her eyes. She couldn’t   
cry though. If she did than Ebony would pick up on it and start crying too and bad things would happen if her mum heard Ebony cry. Hannah didn’t know what the bad things would be though.   
On the few occasions she asked Lex, she wouldn’t tell her. Maybe that was a good thing.

She did know to some extent the sort of things her mother was capable of. There was only so much Lex could hide from her. But whenever things were getting really bad Lex would send her to   
go hid under their bed, in the far corner where their mum couldn’t reach.

Hannah had almost forgotten those days. They were left behind when they left Hatchetfield. She’d gotten used to their new California life where it was her, Lexi and Ethan and then Ebbi. She liked   
it much better that way. 

Now it seemed like it was going to be Hannah and Ebbi and mum and Bad lady. She didn’t like that combination. It meant that she had to be the Lex, but she didn’t know how to be Lex, she   
doesn’t know how to keep Ebbi safe from all the bad stuff her mum does. She knows how to distrct Ebony and make her happy, but that’s it. Lex and Ethan had been the ones to do all the   
protecting.

Where were they? She knew they were coming, Webby said so. But she didn’t know how far away they were or even if they’d be able to rescue her and Ebony. She knew they wouldn’t be able to   
get her while the car was moving. Maybe they’ll come when mum stopped at the petrol station.

But would Ethan and Lex be able to find them? Would they think to look in the boot? She didn’t know. There was no way for her to open the boot from the inside and she couldn’t get to the back   
window because the boot had one of those cover thingys. She’d probably be able to lift it up but she didn’t want to risk her mum or Bad lady seeing her do it.

But what if they didn’t see her or Ebony? She was sure that they’d come to check the boot at some point. Bad lady had suggested bringing them food. She remembered the secret compartment   
Ethan had told her about, he’d even shown her the one in his car.

She placed Ebony in the furthest corner of the boot.

“No rolling, Ebbi.” She instructed. She shuffled her way to the edge of the boot and crouch as well as she could without disturbing the hard cover of the boot. She felt around and found the strap   
that made up the handle of the secret compartment. It wouldn’t open all the way with the boot door closed but it was open enough. She felt inside it, finding it relatively clear of items, mainly,   
there was no spare tyre like Ethan had in his car.

She lowered Ebony down inside of it before following herself. The compartment lid closed after she went in. There was less room, but she felt safer. She didn’t think that Bad lady or her mum   
were the sort of people that knew about the secret compartment, and even if they did know, they probably wouldn’t think that she did.

Now all she needed to do was figure out a way to let Lex and Ethan know she was there without alerting her mum. 

* * *

They’d been on the road for nearly three hours now, two of those following the car.

Lex had been using the camera on her phone to try and get a closer look at the car and see if she could see the girls. So far she’d only been able to see the back of her mum’s and the other   
woman’s heads. She was sure that Hannah was tall enough to be seen over the headrests, but she’d started to doubt that.

She’d tried to get a look at her mum’s rear-view mirror to get a look at them, but it was too small and too far away.

She was desperate for a glimpse of the girls, just to reassure herself that they were all right. She hoped they were. With Ethan’s logic she knew that they should be relatively unharmed, but her   
brain was in overdrive thinking of all the worst-case scenarios. 

Lex knew the things her mother was capable. Knew exactly the amount of harm she could deal. Lex had experienced it all first hand. She didn’t want Hannah or Ebony to deal with any of that.

When they left Hatchetfield and came to California she thought she was done with her mother. Done with the pain and abuse. She remembered how after about a week out of Hatchetfield she had   
the first day in her memory of not having a single bruise on her body. She’d almost cried with happiness.

She’d had hardly any bruises in California. Those she had had had been from normal every day causes, like walking into the corner of the table.

She’d felt hardly any pain in California either. The worst pain she’d been in had been giving birth to Ebony, but that wasn’t bad pain like when her mum broke her arm. The pain of giving birth   
had been something that ended with joy.

Lex found that her hand had unconsciously gone to her stomach. She’d only done that a handful of times since Ebony had been born. Always whenever she was reminiscent of her pregnancy.

Her other hand was still holding Ethan’s. He was the only person she’d told everything her mother had done to her to. He never nagged it out of her; he always let her say it when she was ready.   
That was one of the things she loved about him. 

He’d asked her once if she would ever tell Hannah about those things. Lex didn’t really want to. She wanted to maintain Hannah’s innocence as long as she could. She wanted to protect her from   
the memory of their mother. She had decided though that if Hannah asked her when she was older, than she’d tell her.

Ethan gave her hand a squeeze. “How are you going, babe?” He gave her a soft smile having seen the hand that had drifted to her stomach.

She sighed. “I just want them back.” She leaned against his shoulder as best she could with the car console between them.

“I know, me too.”

They continued to drive as the sun slowly began to set, throwing the sky into shades of pink and orange. Hannah always loved to watch the sunset. She’d stand out on the balcony and just watch   
the sky, waiting for the first stars to appear.

She’d been like that when she was little as well. Always fascinated by the sunset. Lex sometimes wondered if the world always looked like the sunset to Hannah. Full of shifting mesmerizing   
colours. She could see how that could become overwhelming sometimes.

She hoped Hannah could see the sunset from that car.

* * *

Hannah had been exploring the secret compartment with her hands. Maybe she was super sensitive to touch for this specific reason. She felt out what she though might be a torch, like the small   
ones on key rings.

She held the lens to the floor so it wouldn’t be so bright and clicked the button. A tiny halo of light surrounded the torch. Ebony saw the light and tried to grab at it.

“No, Ebbi.” Hannah moved the torch away, swinging its beam of light over the small cramped space. There were only two other things in the compartment; a wrench and what she recognised as a   
car jack. Ethan had shown her how to use it once when they were driving to the shops and got a flat tyre.

It gave her an idea.

Hannah pushed up the lid of the secret compartment place the jack in the gap it created. She wound its handle so that it expanded. Like an accordion Ethan had said.

Hannah didn’t like the noise accordions made, but they looked fun to play with.

She jacked up the compartment lid as much as she could. With the lid held open like that she was able to sit up. It felt nice to be able to sit again.

“Look what I did Ebbi!” She picked up the baby and shone the torch on her handy work. “When the car stops we’ll have to be quick to take it down though. Can’t let mum see.” She thought for a   
moment. “Actually she’d your grandma, isn’t she? That’s weird. I always think we’re sisters, but your mum is my sister. But Lexi acts like she’s a mum to me too. Maybe when we go home she’ll   
let us be sisters. I’d like that.”

Ebony makes a happy noise and grabs one of her braids. 

Hannah only ever seemed to be able to string long sentences when she was talking to Ebony. She didn’t know why that was. Maybe she felt like Ebony just understood her better, which didn’t   
quite make sense because according to Lex, Ebony wouldn’t really be able to understand everything they say just yet.

After an unmeasurable amount of time Hannah felt the car begin to slow down. They must have reached a petrol station. 

She carefully took the car jack out of its position, not bothering to wind it closed, and curled up in the secret compartment. Hopefully Bad lady or her mum would open the boot to check on   
them. Hopefully they walk away from the car to go searching for her and Ebony and maybe then Ethan and Lex and come rescue them.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The word count for this chapter (according to my word document) came to 1999 which is the year I was born, so that's fun.
> 
> Also in writing this chapter I reached 50,000 words of Black Friday fanfiction that I've written (I'm lazy so it's all in the one document, that's how I know).


	11. Chapter 11

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> "Broken window."

“Lex, they’re turning off.” He said, flicking the car indicator on and following the other car off the highway.

“Why are they turning off here?” She said. The exit ramp took them into a small shabby town that looked half deserted.

“Petrol.” He said as they pulled into the petrol station. “If we’re lucky they’ll both leave the car alone and we can get Hannah and Ebbi.”

They pulled up at the air pump, far enough away to not be noticed, but close enough that they could still spy on the two women.

Ethan wound down the window slightly as the two women exited the car so that they could hear what they said.

“Fucking expensive petrol.” Lesley said when she went over to the pump.

“We could go somewhere else if you hadn’t drained the tank.” The other women said.

“You’re the one that said to wait as long as possible. You wanted to get as far away from California as possible.”

“Because your kid saw us take them! She’s probably right on our tail.”

“She’s probably hours behind us, she’s got no backbone. Who knows that fucking pathetic kid is probably to busy crying to find us.” She lights a cigarette. “The only worthwhile thing about her was that she scored me good weed. I will admit that it would be nice to see her again, she always was the best punching bag I ever had.”

Ethan wound the window back up to block out their voices. He’d certainly heard enough and he was sure Lex had as well. When he turned to face her he saw her sitting stock-still. Her eyes were closed tight, trying to stop tears from rolling down her cheeks. This is what hearing her mother’s voice was doing to her and he hated it.

He squeezed Lex’s hand. “It’s okay, babe, she’s not going to hurt you. I won’t let her.”

Lex shook her head. “She already has.”

* * *

The car had stopped, but she couldn’t hear anything from her hiding spot in the secret compartment. It was pitch black, as she’d turned the torch off so none of its light could escape and give them away. She just hoped that when the time came that Ebony wouldn’t make any noise.

She should’ve wound the car jack back down as now there was less space and the cold metal was digging into her back. She didn’t want to move now though she couldn’t risk it. Hannah could hear her heart pounding hard in her chest. Now would not be a good time for a panic attack. She took slow breaths, trying to calm her racing heart, trying to keep it quiet.

After a while she heard the boot door opened. She froze, staying as still as possible, praying that Ebony did the same.

“Fuck.” Came the voice of Bad lady.

“What?” Her mum said.

“They’re not here.”

“Of course they’re there.” Her mum’s footsteps came closer. “Fuck.” The boot door slammed shut, but they were talking loud enough for her to still hear them. “Where the fuck did they go? You let them escape, didn’t you?”

“Why would I let them go?”

“So you can have them to yourself that’s why.”

“For fuck’s sake. They probably got out when you parked the car. Let’s look around they can’t have gotten far.”

The voices went away but Hannah still didn’t move not wanting to risk being seen yet. All she could hear was the silence filling her ears, the tick of the engine cooling. Ebony had been good and hadn’t made a sound or moved at all. Maybe she was asleep. It would make it easier if she was.

Hopefully Ethan and Lex were nearby and could help her, because even though her mum and Bad lady didn’t know she was there, she still couldn’t open the boot from the inside.

Maybe this wasn’t a good plan. If they weren’t near then she would still be trapped here. Without her mum and Bad lady knowing she was there she had no hope of food or water. She was so hungry and thirsty already. She was sure Ebony was too.

What if they died in the secret compartment and no one ever found them? She didn’t want that to happen. She needed to figure out how to get out of this boot before her mum and Bad lady came back and drove her away somewhere else.

* * *

“Can you see the girls?” Lex asked. She still hadn’t opened her eyes.

Ethan turned to try and see them but couldn’t. “No.”

“Where are they? What have they done to them?”

“I don’t know.” He kissed the side of her head and she leaned against him. He was thinking the same things as she was.

They sat like that in silence, wondering what to do next. 

He heard something slam followed by yelling. He looked out the window to see what the commotion was about.

“For fuck’s sake. They probably got out when you parked the car. Let’s look around they can’t have gotten far.” The other woman said.

The two started to walk away from their car.

“How could they have even gotten out? You can’t open the boot from the inside.” Lesley said as they walked right behind Ethan’s car.

“Hannah was scared about getting put in a boot.” Lex whispered once the two women had moved away.

“Yeah.” His voice trailed off before he suddenly remembered something. “So I told her about the secret compartment.”

Lex’s eyes shot open as she stared at him. “You think they’re in there?”

He nodded. “I think it’s the only place they could be.”

Double-checking to make sure the coast was clear they got out of the car, walking over to the one that Hannah and Ebony were in.

* * *

It had been quiet for a little while now and she was sure that they’d gone, but still she didn’t move. Ebony wriggled in her arms a little but didn’t make a sound.

She jumped when the boot door jiggled. Her heart began to thump loudly. Had mum and Bad lady come back?

“Shit, it’s locked.” Someone said. It wasn’t her mum or Bad lady though; it was a man’s voice. Ethan’s voice?

“You’re sure they’re there?” Was that Lexi?

“They have to be right?” 

She heard some shuffling, than Ethan’s voice was a lot closer. 

“You in there, Banana?” His voice came from beneath her. He must have crawled beneath the car.

Hannah went to speak, but found nothing came out. Her throat was too dry. Instead she nocked twice. It had always been the signal for yes between her, Ethan and Lex whenever she was having trouble talking.

“They’re in there, Lex!” His voice was filled with joy and excitement.

“Hannah!” Lex said coming closer. “Are you okay? Is Ebbi okay?”

She knocked twice again.

“We’re gonna get you out, Banana. Can you get out of the secret compartment for us?”

She knocked twice. There was some more shuffling, presumably Ethan getting out from underneath the car.

Hannah pushed the lid open and climbed out, bringing Ebony with her.

“You out, Split?” Ethan asked.

She knocked twice.

“We can’t open the boot, it’s locked. Can you get to one of the car doors?”

One knock. No.

“Okay, can you lift up the cover so we can see you?”

Hannah put Ebony down and pushed on the cover above her with all her might. After a moment of pushing she was able to dislodge it. Light streamed into the boot. It was too bright and Hannah fought not to start becoming panicked from it. Ebony cried from the sudden light. The sun had pretty much set, but the petrol station was well illuminated.

“Just breathe Hannah, you’re okay.” Lex said.

Hannah wanted to look at see her but it was too bright so she shut her eyes tight as tears rolled down her cheeks. “Too bright.” The words came out in a croak but Lex could still hear them.

“I know, I know. You just need to let your eyes adjust, okay?” Her voice made Hannah feel a bit better. “Try looking at the ground with your eyes open to let them get used to the light.”

She did so, but still found there to be too much light. “Too bright, Lexi.” She cried, squeezing her eyes shut.

Lex just wanted to get her out of there. She wanted to hold her sister and make her feel better. She wanted to comfort her clearly distressed daughter.

“Try again, Banana.”

Hannah shook her head.

“Please? We need you to be able to see so that you can help us get you out.”

She took a deep breath and opened her eyes just a crack. It wasn’t as overwhelming as it was before but it was still too much to look out the window directly.

“You’re doing so well, Banana.” Ethan said.

Hannah didn’t know how she was going to get out. The car was locked so Ethan and Lex couldn’t open the boot. She didn’t know what they could do or what she could do. But then she remembered. 

“Broken window.” She said to herself before crouching back down.

“What was that, Hannah?”

She didn’t answer but opened up the secret compartment. She put Ebony down inside it and picked up the wrench, closing the lid with the baby inside; she didn’t want her to get hurt. She could open her eyes a bit more now. She went over to the window.

“Broken window.” She managed to say a bit louder, holding up the wrench for them to see. She could only make out their silhouettes through the brightness, but they seemed to get the message and stood back.

“Be careful.” Lex called.

Hannah knew that glass would fall on her because of the angle of the window, but hopefully the direction of her strikes would force the larger pieces outside the car. She prepared her swing, hitting the window with as much force as she could. The window cracked. She stuck it again, this time she got a hole in, the glass falling partially in and partially out. She hit it again and again, more and more shards spilling from the window pain. She ran the wrench along the edges of the window getting rid of as much glass as possible before dropping the wrench on the floor.

“Broken window.” She muttered, coughing because of her dry throat.

Ethan let out a short chuckle. “That’s certainly a broken window, Banana.” He and Lex came back over to the car.

She could see them now and her tears began to fall anew. She bent back down to retrieve Ebony, moving as much glass from the seams of the lid as possible, gaining a few cuts on her hands. She lifted the lid and Ebony looked up at her.

“Broken window, Ebbi.” She said picking up the baby who smiled at the colour. 

Hannah stood up so that her top half was through the decimated window. She passed Ebony to Lex who hugged the baby tightly to her chest. Ebony instantly relaxed being back in her mother’s arms as Lex began to rock her gently.

The next challenge would be to get Hannah out of the car, but Ethan seemed to have already figured out a way. He took off his jacket and laid it over the frame of the window.

“Okay, Banana. I’m going to take your hands and I’ll need to you step up onto my jacket and jump out so I can catch you. You think you can do that for me?”

Hannah nodded and took his hands. They were warm and kind and didn’t set her nerves on fire. She put one foot up on his jacket as he had instructed and launched herself through the window and into his arms. She wrapped herself around him and he held her tightly.

“Well done, I’m so proud of you.” He kissed the top of her head.

“Lexi?” She said after a moment, reaching out for her sister.

Ethan and Lex swapped children and she held Hannah tightly.

“Was scary.” She whispered hoarsely.

“I know, Hannah, I’m so sorry.”

“Didn’t know how to keep Ebbi safe.”

“You did keep her safe, Banana. She’s okay.” Lex smoothed back Hannah’s hair noticing a few cuts from the glass, wiping the blood away with a slight wince from Hannah.

“Can I have water?” She asked.

“Yeah of course. We’ve got some in the car.”

The four of them began to make their way over to Ethan’s car until Lex suddenly froze in her tracks.

“Babe?” Ethan put a hand on her shoulder. She didn’t reply so he followed her gaze. Standing on the other side of the petrol station was he mother, and she was looked straight at them.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The broken window is finally revealed!
> 
> Originally it was going to be the Foster mum breaking a window to get into their apartment, but I couldn't think up a reason for how she'd get up there.


	12. Chapter 12

“Isn’t this so fucking cute.” Lesley said striding towards them.

Lex still stood frozen, Hannah clinging tightly to her.

“Lex, we need to get the girls to the car.” Ethan said trying to pull her towards the car while still holding Ebony. “C’mon, Lex.”

She snapped out of her trance and began to move to the safety of the car.

“You’re so fucking cute I could vomit.” She was upon them. She grabbed Lex’s shoulder who immediately froze, her back to her mother.

“Go hide, Hannah.” She said, part of her back in the trailer of her childhood.

Ethan quickly passed Ebony to Hannah as she hurried into the car before he stepped between Lex and her mother, removing her hand.

“Don’t touch her.” He said, his voice lined with an unspoken threat.

“This is none of you’re business, pretty boy.” She tried to push past him, but he stopped her.

“You’ve messed with my family. This is my business.”

“How fucking sweet. You think they’re your family? No. They’re my family. I own them.”

“No.” Lex said softly turning around. “You don’t own us, not anymore.”

“You think you can talk to me?” She lunges at Lex, Ethan blocking her just in time.

“I told you not to touch her.” Ethan shoves her back.

“You dare try to keep a mother from her daughter?”

Ethan stepped up to her. “That’s not what I’m doing. That’s what you did. You tried to take our kids away from us.”

“Excuse me? Last time I checked the fucking retard and her pathetic sister where my kids.”

“Don’t call her that.” Lex said, tears on her cheeks.

“I’m sorry, does that upset you?” Her mum spoke in a mocking tone. “Fucking pathetic. Hear that? You’re pathetic, you’re useless, you’re a piece of shit that never should have been born.” Before she can say more Ethan pushes her back once more.

“Don’t talk to Lex that way. Don’t talk about Hannah that way. Don’t even think about it.” He was becoming angry. He hated her saying those things about the people he loved. “Lex, get to the car.”

She began to move towards the car. The other woman appearing out of nowhere stopped her. She grabbed Lex’s hair, causing her to cry out.

“Let her go!” Ethan turned away from Lesley to get to Lex but was forced to the ground as Lesley kicked him hard in the middle of his back. He fell to the ground with a grunt.

“Ethan!” Lex cried out, followed by a yelp as the other woman yanked her hair and twisted one of her arms behind her back.

The sky had grown overcast, though they couldn’t tell now that the sun had set. A drizzle of rain began to fall. Lex was glad that Hannah was safely in the car.

In the moment Ethan was on the ground, Lesley made a beeline for his car, determined to get the girls back.

Ethan reached and grabbed her ankle as she walked by him, causing her to trip and fall.

“No way are you getting near my girls. Not on my watch.” He clicked his car keys, locking the doors so she couldn’t get in.

“Unlock the fucking car.” She lunged at him, but he rolled over, dodging her before standing up. She followed suit, running at him, reaching for the keys.

* * *

It had been a quiet evening. Joel had been busying himself by re-stocking the drinks fridge of the petrol station’s store. 

As the sun was setting two cars pulled into the station, one going to the fuel pumps, the other to the air. Two women got out of the one by the fuel pumps. He pressed his buzzer and approved them to start filling up their tank.

He didn’t take much notice of them after that and fiddled with some stuff behind the counter while he waited for them to come in and pay. They seemed to be taking a while.

He looked out at the car to find two other people a man and a woman standing near the car while glass smashed out of the back window. What the fuck? He kept watching from the safety of the counter.

He was certainly surprised when he saw a baby and a little girl come out of the car’s boot. Why were there two kids in a car boot? Where are their parents? He saw how the older kid clung onto the man and then the woman. 

The man, woman and two kids began to walk over to the other car at the air pump but stopped as the women from the fuel pumps returned. Joel had no idea where they had gone, he only cared that they paid for their petrol otherwise his boss would kill him. One of the women was yelling, he couldn’t understand what. The little girl took the baby to the air pump car.

There was more yelling. The man seemed to be defending the woman he was with and pushed the yelling one back.

Should he go out there and try and put a stop to this before things got physical? He was just a scrawny teenager saving up to get a car of his own, there’s no way these people would listen to him.

It was too late now. One woman had grabbed the one the man was with by the hair and the yelling one kicked the man to the ground.  
Joel grabbed the stations’ phone and dialled 911.

“911 what is the location of your emergency?” The operator said over the phone.

“Uh, Golden Valley Petrol Station.” He said.

“What is the nature of your emergency, sir?”

He’d never been called sir before. “There’s a fight outside by the pumps. Three women and a man.”

“I’ve sent a police vehicle your way, is an ambulance required as well?”

“I don’t think so? I’m not sure. There are also two kids, a little girl and a baby but they’re in one of the cars. I think they broke out of one of the cars, I’m not sure what’s going on.”

“That’s alright, sir, can you describe to me what sort of a fight it is?”

“This woman started yelling at the man and the woman he was with, they got the kids out of her car boot? And now the yelling woman is trying to get something off of the man, I don’t know what though. Also the woman who was with the yelling woman is holding back the woman who was with the man.”

“Thank you. What’s you’re name, sir.”

“Joel.”

“Thank you Joel, the police should be with you shortly. Please stay on the line until they arrive.”

“Okay.”

* * *

Hannah was scared. She didn’t know what was going on. There was a lot of yelling and Ebony was crying again. She’d gotten some water though and had given some to the baby as well. So at least they weren’t thirsty anymore.

Rain had started to pitter-patter on the car. She instantly felt cold. She wished she knew how to turn the car heater on. 

She sat curled up on the car seat, cuddling Ebony for warmth when she heard sirens. She looked out the window and saw flashing lights pulling into the petrol station. She immediately closed her eyes.

“Too bright.” She muttered.

* * *

They froze in their fight when the police cars appeared.

A male officer climbed out of the cruiser. “All right, break it up people.”

Ethan stayed put until the other woman released Lex. He went straight over to her.

“Are you okay?” He asked, checking her over for injuries.

“I’m fine, are you okay?”

Before he could answer, the police officer spoke again. “Someone wanna tell me what’s going on here?”

Lesley jumped the gun and spoke first. “These two.” She pointed at Ethan and Lex. “Took my kid.”

The officer turned to them. “Is that true.”

“No.” Lex looked slightly horrified. “She kidnapped our kids.”

Lesley scoffed. “The crazy one ain’t your kid, Alexandra, she’s mine and so are you.”

“They’re not yours.” Ethan said, stepping in front of Lex.

“Alright, alright.” The officer said, stepping between Ethan and Lesley. “Let’s sort this out at the station, okay?” He called for another car to come and escort them. “Where are these kids your fighting over?”

“He locked them up in that car.” Lesley said.

“To stop you from kidnapping them again!” Ethan said, gesturing at her car.

“Whoa, what happened to the back window?” The officer asked.

“She locked them in the boot, so Hannah broke the window to get out.” Lex said.

“Okay, everyone back to your cars before there’s another fight.” The officer ordered. “Have the kids come into my car.”

“No.” Lex said.

“This isn’t optional, ma’am.”

“No, I mean Hannah can’t come out of the car, it’s raining.”

“It’s just water she’ll be fine.”

“She’s autistic.” Ethan supplied. “She’ll have a panic attack if she gets touched by the rain, she’s probably already upset from the yelling and flashing lights.”

“Oh god, you’re right.” Lex rushes over to the car. Ethan unlocked it for her. “Hannah, are you okay?” She saw Hannah curled up with Ebony, eyes squeezed shut, trembling slightly.

“Too bright, Lexi.” She whispered.

“I know, I’m sorry.” Lex looked over to the police officer. “Do you think you can turn off the lights? It’s too much for her.”

“Yeah, I can do that.” The officer said, walking over to his cruiser.

“The policeman is gonna turn off the lights, Banana.”

She nodded, waiting for the lights to go out before opening her eyes. 

“Hey! Get away from the kid!” Lesley yelled, running over and pulling Lex away from the car, pushing her to the ground.

Hannah screamed.

“Shut up, you fucking retard, or else bad things will happen.” Lesley muttered.

“Enough of that!” The officer ran over as Hannah continued to scream. He grabbed her mum’s wrists handcuffing them together. “You’re gonna sit in my car from now on.” He locked her into the backseat of the cruiser as the backup car approached.

“It’s okay, Banana, she’s gone now.” Ethan said rushing over and helping Lex up, checking to make sure she was alright.

Hannah stopped screaming, but was crying instead. Ebony was too.

“We’re a bit wet, but can we sit next to you?” He asked. He wanted to hold her and comfort her, but knew that the rainwater on him and Lex may cause her further distress.

After thinking it over she nodded and Ethan and Lex climbed into the backseat next to her. Once seated, Hannah passed Ebony to Lex.

“Hungry.” She said.

“I bet.” She begins to feed Ebony. “I reckon you’re pretty hungry too.”

Hannah nodded. She still had tears falling down her face. She wanted a hug but was unsure of how wet they were. Carefully she patted Ethan’s arm to test the feel of it. She did so a few more times, Ethan waiting patiently for her to figure out if she’d be okay. Then finally she crawled into his lap, curling up into him. He wrapped his arms around her and kissed the top of her head.

“Can we go home?” She whispered, suddenly very tired.

“Soon, Banana.” He said.

The police officer came over, knocking on the side of the car. The noise made Hannah jump. Ethan rubbed her back to soothe her.

“Sorry to interrupt.” The officer began. “We’re gonna head down to the station now. I’ll allow you lot to travel in this car, but I’ll be following behind and my colleague will be in front, so don’t think about driving off somewhere or anything. We want to ask you all some questions and get to the bottom of this. I don’t know who those women are in relation to you guys, but the four of you are clearly a family to me, so I’m sure you’ll all be going home soon enough.”

“Okay, thanks officer.” Lex said as he left.

“You think you can let me go to drive, Banana?” Ethan asked.

Hannah shook her head and held on to him tightly.

“You can come and cuddle up with me.” Lex said, running her fingers through Hannah’s hair. “Ethan needs to drive the car.”

“Feeding Ebbi.” She says, looking over at Lex.

“I can do two things at once.” She carefully pulled Hannah over to her.

Ethan went to get into the driver’s seat but Hannah grabbed his hand.

“Don’t go far away.”

“I’m not going anywhere, I’ll be right in front of you, okay?” He said, giving her hand a squeeze.

She nodded and he went into the driver’s sear, starting up the engine. He was sure to turn up the heater so that Hannah wouldn’t get to cold.

They began driving between the two police cars, as it wasn’t an emergency the lights and sirens were off, much to Hannah’s relief.

They didn’t speak much during the short drive to the police station. Hannah curled herself into Lex’s side who had wrapped an arm around her, the other holding Ebony who was now drifting off to sleep.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I started writing this chapter thinking that it may be the last one, but while I was at work I came up with more stuff so now you get more chapters. Yay!


	13. Chapter 13

They were sitting in a waiting area at the police station. They were each getting questioned individually and Lex had gone first. So sitting and waiting were Ethan, Hannah and a sleeping Ebony. Hannah was curled up resting her head against his arm. When they arrived they had managed to find something for her to eat so she wasn’t hungry anymore, but was still very tired.

“You wanna lie down and try get some sleep, Banana?” He asked.

She shook her head. “Not without Lexi.”

“We don’t know how long Lexi’s gonna be. You should at least nap a little before she comes back.”

Hannah shook her head again.

Ethan sighed. “Okay, you can stay awake.”

The continued to sit and wait for a while longer before a female police officer came over to them.

“I’m here to take Hannah so we can ask her a few questions.” She said, holding out a hand for her to take.

Hannah curled into Ethan clinging onto his arm. “Lexi’s not back yet.”

The police officer smiled and crouched down to be level with her. “She’ll still be a while yet, so why don’t you come with me and I’ll ask you some questions while you do some drawing. How does that sound?”

“Go on, Split, you’ll be okay.” Ethan said.

Slowly she nodded and got off of her seat. She didn’t take the officer’s hand but chose to walk slightly behind her. She was guided to a room that ha a couch, several toys and a low coffee table covered in paper and colouring pencils. There was a woman sitting on the couch who wasn’t dressed like a police officer and who held a clipboard laden with papers.

“Hello Hannah.” The woman on the couch said. “I’m Ruth, I’m going to be asking you a few questions, is that alright?”

Hannah nodded eyeing her warily.

“Why don’t you take a seat and find something to play with while I ask them.”

She went over to the colouring table and sat down carefully picking up a black pencil from a tin, tapping the side of the tin with it twice before preparing to draw.

“Let’s start with an easy one, shall we? How old are you Hannah?” Ruth asked.

“Nearly ten.” She mumbled. She didn’t really want to talk to this lady and answer her questions, but she knew she had to.

“How much longer until you’re ten?”

“Month and a half.” She said.

“That’s not far away at all, is it?” The woman wrote some things down on her clipboard. “Where do you live?”

“California.”

“Do you like it there?”

Hannah nodded, beginning a drawing of Webby.

“Who do you live with there?”

“Lexi and Ethan and Ebbi.”

“Do you like living with them? Do they take good care of you?”

“They love me.” Was all she said as a response.

“Okay. Did you live anywhere before you live in California?”

Hannah nodded.

“Where was that?”

“Trailer in Hatchetfield.” Hannah didn’t want to have to talk about Hatchetfield, she liked it much better in California.

“Who did you live with there?”

“Lexi and mum.”

“What about Ethan and Ebbi?”

“Ebbi wasn’t born yet. Ethan lived in a house.”

Ruth made a few notes. “What’s you mum’s name?”

Hannah thought for a moment. “Don’t remember.”

“You don’t remember your mum’s name?”

Hannah shook her head before shrugging. “Not worth remembering. Lexi would know though.”

Ruth scribbled something down. “Why isn’t her name worth remembering?”

“She was mean. Yelled lots. Hurt me and Lexi.” Hannah mumbled, moving closer to her drawing so she didn’t have to look at Ruth.

“What about your dad? Did he ever live with you?”

She shook her head. “Ethan’s the only dad I know.”

“Did you want to leave your mum and move to California?”

She nodded, not looking up from her drawing.

“How old were you?”

“Eight.”

“Did your mum know you were leaving? Did she give Lex and Ethan permission to take you?” Ruth had a lot of questions. Why did she need to know all this stuff? Wasn’t she meant to ask about what had happened that day?

Hannah shrugged. “Don’t know if she noticed.”

“You don’t think your mother noticed that you were gone?” 

“I don’t know.” She was starting to get stressed. She didn’t like all these questions. She began to rock herself slightly, still working on her drawing.

“Did your mum give permission to Lex and Ethan to take you to California?”

“Don’t know.” Hannah could feel tears beginning to build up behind her eyes.

“Okay, can you tell me about what happened today? What were you doing before your mother took you?”

“Can’t go. Bad lady. Broken window.” She repeated the words she had said that morning, it felt like it was weeks ago.

“What do you mean, Hannah?”

“Can’t go. Bad lady. Broken window.” She repeated, rocking herself harder.

“Okay. Where were you when your grandmother and mother took you?”

“Walking. Magic hat. Chase.” She patted her head, remembering that the hat wasn’t there, she started to panic, but Ruth hadn’t seemed to notice, eyes trained on her clipboard. She didn’t know where the magic hat was now. For all she knew it was still on a street somewhere in California.

“What does that mean?”

“Walking. Magic hat. Chase. Bad lady. Bad colours. Dark place. Broken window.” She fell into panic, breathing fast and tears streaming down her face.

Ruth looked up from her clipboard. She put it down and sat down beside Hannah. “I’m sorry, did I upset you?”

Hannah clamped her hands over her ears, trying to block out all the noise around her. “Want Lexi.” She said between sobs.

“She’s still being questioned.” Ruth said.

“Want Lexi.”

“We’ll see what we can do.” Ruth didn’t try to touch her, which Hannah was relieved about, she didn’t want to have to deal with touch as well as sound.

After a while Ethan came into the room with Ebony and crouched besides her.

“What’s shakin’, Banana?” He said, holding a hand out to her.

She didn’t say anything but crawled into his lap pulling Ebony into her arms.

“You’re okay.” He said, rubbing her back.

* * *

“So you say that a woman grabbed your sister and daughter and shoved them into a car driven by you mother before climbing in herself and driving away?” The officer asked.

“Yes.” Lex said. He kept doing this. Repeating everything she’d just said back to her, and it was getting on her nerves. She’d told her side of the story several times to this guy, but he kept doubling back, probably to see if she’d keep her story straight.

“Are you aware that this woman is your grandmother?”

This was news. “I don’t have a grandmother.”

“You said that you found her to be ‘vaguely familiar’.”

“Yes. When Ebony was two weeks old she wanted to hold her when I was out shopping.”

“And is that the only time you ever saw your grandmother?”

“As far as I remember.”

The officer said nothing. He made a few notes and looked through some papers. Before he asked her anything else someone else opened the door.

“Excuse me for a moment.” He said, leaving the room.

Lex was left alone with her thoughts. She had no idea that she had a grandmother, but it made sense as to why she’d help her mum. 

Lex just wanted all of this to be done with so she could go home. She’d barely gotten Hannah and Ebony back and now she wasn’t allowed to see them yet.

After a few minutes the officer returned with a tap recorder.

“We’ve spoken to your sister, but she said some things that we didn’t understand, we hoped you could interpret them for us.”

“Yeah, sure. She’s okay though, right? She doesn’t always do well with being asked questions.” Lex hoped that they hadn’t caused her a panic attack.

“I assure you she’s fine.” The officer pressed play after forwarding the tape to a certain point.

 _“What were you doing before your mother took you?”_ Said a woman’s voice, the interviewer.

 _“Can’t go. Bad lady. Broken window.”_ Said the voice of Hannah

_“What do you mean, Hannah?”_

_“Can’t go. Bad lady. Broken window.”_

The officer paused the tape. “Any idea what that could mean?” He asked

“That’s what she was saying this morning.” Lex said. “She didn’t want to go to school because she was worried something bad would happen.”

“She had a bad feeling? What does she mean by ‘bad lady’ and ‘broken window’?”

“I think she means out grandmother by bad lady and broken window is something she’s been saying for ages. She’s been having these nightmares where our mum would break in and kidnap her.”

“She dreamt this would happen?”

“Yeah. The dreams changed from breaking into the apartment to being in a car. The broken window turned out to be her breaking out of the boot.” Lex wasn’t quite sure how to explain how Hannah would often know things she shouldn’t or say things that came to be true.

“Right.” The officer continued playing the tape.

_“Okay. Where were you when your grandmother and mother took you?”_

_“Walking. Magic hat. Chase.”_ Hannah’s breathing seemed to grow faster.

_“What does that mean?”_

_“Walking. Magic hat. Chase. Bad lady. Bad Colours. Dark place. Broken window.”_ The sound of Hannah’s panic attack came through the tape recorder’s speaker.

“I thought you said she was alright.” Lex said. “She’s having a panic attack!”

“Calm down, ma’am, she’s being well taken care of. Just translate for us what she said and you will be free to go.”

Lex didn’t want to stay in that room with the officer for one more second, but know the easiest way to get out and to her family would be to go along with what he said. She sighed. “We were walking home from her school. She had her magic hat on.”

“Magic hat?”

“It’s one of Ethan’s old baseball caps. He told her it was magic and could protect her. It’s a coping mechanism for her when she gets worried about things that could happen.”

“Okay, please continue.”

“It was windy and the hat blew off, so she chased after it while holding Ebony. That’s when who you say is our grandmother grabbed her. I think dark place is for the boot because there wasn’t any light in there. And broken window, as I said before, refers to her breaking the car’s back window. I have no idea what 'bad colours' could mean.Anything else you want to ask or can I go see her now?”

“You may go, thank you for your time. My colleague will take you to your sister.”

She nodded and stood up, going to the door where another officer took her along a hallway to a room with kid’s toys. Hannah was sitting in Ethan’s lap holding Ebony. Lex went straight over to them.

“Hey, are you guys okay?” She said softly sitting next to Ethan.

“Lexi!” Hannah gave Ebony to Ethan and crawled into her lap.

“You feeling okay, Banana?” She asked.

“Missed you. Too many questions.”

“I missed you too.” Lex held her, running her fingers through her hair. Ethan wrapped an arm around her and she rested her head on his shoulder.

“How’d it go, babe?” He asked.

She let out a long sigh as an answer.

“Fair enough.” He said, giving her a kiss.

“Are the girls okay?” She asked, looking down at the sleeping baby in his arms.

“Ebbi’s been asleep the whole time, and Hannah kept asking after you, so she’ll be good now that you’re back.”

“Okay.” She gave Hannah a slight squeeze looking down to find that she was almost asleep. “I guess you’re right, she’s practically asleep.”

Hannah mumbles something unintelligible and grabs a fistful of Lex’s shirt.


	14. Chapter 14

It was getting late. Ethan had been off being questioned for a while now and Lex was left alone with the two sleeping girls. She was starting to doze off a bit herself, but made sure to periodically wake herself up. Hannah was still holding onto her shirt, something she’d done a lot when she was really little.

A woman walked into the room and sat down next to Lex on the couch, holding out her hand.

“Hi, I’m Ruth Goldsworth, I was interviewing Hannah earlier.”

“Nice to meet you.” Lex shook her hand.

“Sorry I upset her earlier.”

“It’s fine, she has panic attacks fairly often.” She looks down to make sure Hannah was still asleep.

“There were some things I asked Hannah that she wasn’t sure of the answer for, I was wondering if you could enlighten me?”

She really didn’t feel like answering more questions but didn’t have anything better to do while waiting for Ethan. “Yeah, okay.”

“Great. Would I be able to get your mother’s full name?”

“Lesley Foster. If she has a middle name I don’t know what it is.”

“That’s all right. Have you got certification stating that you are the legal guardian of Hannah?”

“Not on me, but at home, yes. Ethan’s her legal guardian too.”

Ruth made note while nodding. “And lastly, was your mother informed of you taking Hannah and leaving Hatchetfield?”

“I left a note, can’t say if she read it. Why are you asking this stuff? What’s us moving from Hatchetfield got anything to do with mum kidnapping Hannah and Ebony?”

“I work with CPS. The police wanted me to look into the girl’s living situation and what sort of legal claim Lesley has over Hannah and whether it trumps yours. As you are a legal guardian and I presume primary care giver you have the greater claim, which is why you’re allowed to be together now. This is also so that the police can know whether or not your mother can be charged with two cases of kidnapping or just one.”

“Right, okay.” Lex nodded.

“I was wondering if I could also ask you about your living situation in Hatchetfield?”

“I don’t want to go into too much detail but the gist is that our mum was abusive, verbally and physically and I raised Hannah since the day she was born.” Lex wasn’t a big fan of talking about her childhood and time in Hatchetfield, but she did want this woman to know why they left and what her mother was like. 

Ebony woke up and began crying softly. Lex scooped her up from where she was lying on the couch, holding her in one arm while the other was still wrapped around Hannah.

“Thank you for your time.” Ruth said getting up and leaving.

“No worries.” Lex said before returning her attention to her daughter. “Hey, it’s okay, mum’s got you.” She held her close and she soon stopped crying. She looked up with her wide brown eyes. “See, there’s nothing to cry about.” She smoothed out the brown curls on Ebony’s head.

“Hey.” Ethan said entering the room. He looked tired and worn out, Lex assumed she looked about the same as it was nearing midnight.

“Hey yourself.” She said. “Are we all clear to go home?”

“Yeah I think so.” He yawned.

“Are you gonna be okay to drive for that long? We can crash at a motel or something.”

“Nah, I’ll be alright. Besides, I think Banana might freak out if she doesn’t wake up in her own bed.” He tucks a strand of Hannah’s hair behind her ear. He looks to Ebony and sees that she’s awake. “Hey, little one, what are you doing awake?”

She reaches up to him, and he takes her out of Lex’s arms, sitting beside her resting Ebony against his shoulder where she soon falls back to sleep.

“Ready to go?” He asks.

“Yeah, let’s get out of here.” Lex says kissing his cheek.

“You want me to take Banana?”

“If you just help me get standing, I should be alright to carry her.”

He nodded, getting up off of the couch he uses his spare arm to support Hannah while Lex stands. He waits for her to be steady on her feet before he releases his hold on Hannah.

Lex grunted a bit supporting the weight of her sister. She’d hardly had to carry Hannah since they came to California; Ethan had become her first choice for a lift. Though if Hannah was upset about something that had to do with Hatchetfield or their mum, she went straight to Lex.

They made their way out into the cold wet night and pilled into the car. Ethan put Ebony into her car seat while Lex tried to get Hannah to let go of her, having to pry each of her fingers from their grip on her shirt. Soon they were all in their seats and Ethan started the engine directing the car back to California.

“You can try to sleep if you want, babe.” Ethan said taking her hand.

“I’m okay.”

“You look exhausted. You should sleep.”

“You look exhausted too and you’re not allowed to sleep yet, so I’m gonna stay awake as well to make sure you don’t fall asleep on us.” She said.

“Fine, but don’t go all grumpy-sleep-deprived-Lex on me.”

“I don’t get grumpy.” She said defensively.

“I mean, what nothing.” His eyes flicked to her before returning to the road.

“I do not get grumpy.”

“Of course you don’t.” He couldn’t help but smile.

“Say what you want, Ethan Green, but I do not get grumpy.” 

“Sure you don’t, babe.” He lifts her hand and kisses the back of it.

They drive along in silence for a while, listening to random songs on the radio. Lex would turn around every now and then to check and see that the girls were still asleep. 

“Hey, Lex?” Ethan said after close to an hour of silent driving.

“Yeah?”

“Are you okay? You know with everything that happened with your mum.” He gave her hand a reassuring squeeze, knowing that everything that had happened that day must have been really hard for her.

She sighed. “I’m glad the girls are okay and that we’re taking them home. But when she was yelling like that.” She shook her head, trying to clear her mind of the memory. “It was like I was back in the trailer again. Like I was at her mercy. I couldn’t protect myself from her, I’ve never been able to I’ve only ever been able to protect Hannah. But you were there this time, and you protected me and Hannah and Ebbi. I should’ve done more, I should’ve helped you.”

“Babe, it’s okay. You did all that you could.”

“I should’ve done more to protect them. She’s right, I am pathetic.”

“No, you’re not.” He pulls over to the side of the road, moving to face her, one hand still holding hers while the other cups her cheek so that she’s forced to look at him. “You’re amazing, Lex. You are the strongest person I know. You raised Hannah while raising yourself, and you did an amazing job. Hannah’s the sweetest kid in the world, and you’re the best person I know. You haven’t let the fact that your mum sucks hold you back from doing what you want to do. I love you and I love our girls. Without you I wouldn’t even know them. You’re anything but pathetic. You’re brave and strong an wonderful and I love that about you.” He runs his thumb across her cheek and she leans into his touch.

“I love you, Ethan. I don’t know what I’d do without you.”

He leans in and gives her a long lingering kiss, breaking apart her rests his forehead against hers.

“We’re gonna be okay, babe. All of us.”

* * *

They finally made it back to the apartment and Lex and Ethan were definitely ready for bed. Once the kids were put in there respective beds they collapsed onto their own. They didn’t bother getting changed, barely stopping to take off their shoes before climbing beneath the covers.

“Night, babe, love you.” Ethan mumbled pulling her close.

“Love you too.” She replied, closing her eyes, wrapping an arm around his waist.

“Lexi?” Hannah called from the other room. “Lexi?”

She got up, giving Ethan a quick kiss on the cheek before going out to see to Hannah.

“Hey Banana.” She said when she entered the room.

“Back home?”

“Yeah we’re home now and it’s really late, you should go back to sleep.”

“Is mum gonna come back?”

“No, she’s far away, you’re safe now.”

“Sure?”

“I’m sure, I bet Webby says so too.”

Hannah concentrated for a moment, listening to whatever Webby was saying. She looked back at Lex and nodded before snuggling back down under her blankets. “Na-night Lexi.”

“Night, Banana.” She kissed the top of her head before returning to her own bed, swiftly falling asleep.

* * *

It was a new day, and so far everything had been normal. Lex kept expecting something out of the ordinary to happen, but it didn’t. Ethan had gotten the day off from work, which he certainly needed having slept half the day away after driving so late the previous night.

Hannah spent the morning sitting at the table drawing and colouring whatever image sprung to mind, though in the corner of each was a carefully illustrated spider.

Ethan walked into the kitchen stretching his arms and letting out a yawn. “Morning, babe.” He said giving Lex a kiss on the cheek. “What time is it?”

“1 o’clock in the afternoon.” She replied.

He frowned. “You should’ve woken me up. How long have you been awake?”

“Since about 8:30. That was when Ebbi decided she wanted breakfast.” She leaned into him as he wrapped his arms around her.

“Babababababa.” 

They look into the living room to see Ebony sitting on a blanket in the middle of the floor holding a toy cat in both hands.

“Bababababa.” She babbled to the cat. She then shook it to make the bell on its collar ring, giggled, than repeated the process.

“This is adorable.” Ethan said, picking up his phone and videoing the interaction.

They stood there watching her for a while until she stopped and looked up at them. She reached out to Lex, making a grabbing motion with her hands. She obliges and scoops the baby off of the floor and into her arms. Lex adjusted her so that she sat on her hip.

“Dididididi.” Ebony babbled, bouncing up and down on Lex’s hip.

Lex nodded along to the nonsense, acting as if she understood.

Ethan wrapped an arm around her from the opposite side to Ebony. Occasionally tickling his daughter’s side making her giggle.

“You ever think about having another one?” Ethan asked. He loved Ebony and Hannah and definitely wanted to have as many kids as Lex would let him. He wouldn’t push her to have them if she didn’t want any more though.

“I’m not opposed to the idea.” She said. “But I don’t want any more until Ebbi is a bit older.”

“Fair enough.” He kissed the side of her head, pulling her closer to him. She tilted her head up so she could kiss him properly.

“Lexi! Ethan!” Hannah called running over to them from the table, holding out the drawing she’d just completed. “Look!”

“Wow, that looks great, Banana.” Ethan said as he and Lex inspected the picture. Hannah had drawn the four of them all standing together with Webby drawn on the corner of the page.

“Yeah that’s really good, do you wanna stick it on the fridge?” Lex said.

Hannah nodded, a big grin on her face as she raced off into the kitchen using the alphabet magnets Lex had bought to help her with spelling to stick the drawing to the fridge. She bounded back over to them.

“I even left room on it so that I can add to it when you have more babies.” She said.

Ethan raised his eyebrows at Lex. He was pretty sure Hannah hadn’t been able to hear their conversation, but there was no telling what Hannah knew.

“That’s good thinking.” Lex said smoothing back Hannah’s hair. “What do you think about us having more kids?”

“I like it.” She grinned and wrapped her arms around Lex and Ethan as best she could.

* * *

Lex sat alone on the couch while Ethan tucked Hannah into bed that night. She was scrolling through her phone when it began to vibrate with a call.

“Hello?” She said, bringing the phone to her ear.

“Alexandra?”

There were only a handful of people who ever called her Alexandra. “Yes?” She replied warily.

“It’s your grandmother, I was wanting to ta-“

Lex hung up the phone. She didn’t want anything to do with that woman.

The phone rang again, displaying the same number as before. Despite not wanting to, she picks up the phone.

“What do you want?”

“Just to talk to you.”

“Well I don’t want to talk to you.” She hangs up again.

The phone rings a third time.

“Leave me alone.” She doesn’t give time for a response before she hangs up once again.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Kudos to whoever knows where I got Ruth's last name from


	15. Chapter 15

“Lex, are you okay?” Ethan asked as he entered the living room finding Lex on the couch, hands trembling slightly as she looked at her phone, which had been discarded on the floor. She doesn’t acknowledge him as he sits beside her. “Lex?” He places a hand on her shoulder, causing her to jump. “Are you okay?”

“She keeps calling.”

“Who’s calling you?”

“That woman who was with mum, who is apparently my grandmother, she keeps calling me.”

“Did you answer?”

She nods. “Only the first few times. I told her to leave me alone.”

The phone vibrates again, but only two short buzzes signifying a text. Lex doesn’t move to read it. Ethan grabs the phone from the floor, looking to see who the sender is.

“Is it her?”

“Yeah, I think so.” He says. “Do you want to read it?”

She shakes her head. “You read it and let me know if she’s got anything of value to say.”

“Okay.” He wraps an arm around her and begins reading.

>   
> Alexandra,   
> I understand why you don’t want to talk to me, but you should still listen to what I have to say. Your mother, my daughter, asked me to help her with a financial problem of hers. I found it odd that she would reach out to me for help, seeing as we had a falling out several years ago when you were just a toddler. We used to be very close you see, so I jumped at the chance to be with your mother again, I’d missed you as well and hoped to see you too.  
> Your mother explained to me that you had skipped town, taking your sister with you. She said that she needed you two to live with her otherwise she wasn’t eligible to receive child benefits which were her only source of income. This was the first time I learned that I had another granddaughter. I wanted to help reunite the three of you, and maybe get the chance to meet you again now that you’re older. So I agreed to help. I had no idea what your mother was like to you after she’d left home taking you with her.
> 
> I didn’t know the full extent of her plan or what she was like as a mother until we were on the road to California. I have no idea how she knew where you lived, by the way. I didn’t entirely agree with all of her parenting techniques, but I wanted to rekindle the relationship I once had with my daughter, so I went along with it. I told her we should watch you for a bit to get a sense of what you and your sister were up to.
> 
> We had no idea (well your mother suspected it) that you were living with who she said was your ‘no good’ boyfriend. We were most certainly surprised to find you had a baby.  
> I decided to do a little recon and find out a bit about your baby, that’s why I came up to you in the supermarket that day, I hope you remember. You were very protective over that baby; it made me wonder if you knew who I was and why I was there. I was so excited to get to talk to you now that you’re all grown up, you were no longer the little Alexandra who loved my bedtime stories from my memories.
> 
> I will admit I felt a little hurt when you walked away so suddenly, but of course you had no idea who I was. To you I was a stranger trying to hold your baby.  
> Your mother and I continued to watch you; she had wanted to wait a few months until the baby was older. She thought it might make it easier. The plans had changed slightly since the discovery of my great granddaughter. Originally we were going to take you and your sister back to Hatchetfield where your mother would pretend you were still under 18 to get the benefits for two children. But with your baby we decided it would be easier to take her and Hannah, that way there was no need to fake ages.  
> We had been trying to get them far away enough from you to get them but I feared you suspected something was amiss. You and your boyfriend, I’m not sure what his name is, became very protective over Hannah and the baby.
> 
> My first interaction with Hannah was probably not the best way to introduce myself. Your mother had described her to me, but that didn’t quite prepare me for what she was actually like. She kept saying strange things.
> 
> Your mother kept telling her to stop your baby from crying and all Hannah would say that the baby didn’t like our voices, that they were ‘bad colours’. I don’t know what that could mean. She also kept saying ‘dark place’ and ‘broken window’. It was only later that I realised that we put her in a dark place, the boot, and that she broke a window to get out. How she seemed to know those things was stranger beyond belief, I’d say.
> 
> I knew that she hid herself and the baby in the spare tyre compartment of the boot. I had realised what we were doing was very wrong when I saw you chase after our car. I knew you loved those children, but I had no idea how much until that moment.
> 
> I was glad that you were able to catch up to us and got Hannah and your baby back. I’m sorry if I hurt you during that fight. I only was holding you back because I didn’t want your mother to get her hands on you. I had found out what sort of a mother she was when we had Hannah in the car.
> 
> I am sorry that I caused you pain. I hope that one day you might forgive me.  
> Sincerely,  
> Your grandmother, Veronica Foster.  
> 

Ethan put the phone down having finished reading the marathon text message. Lex looked up at him expectantly.

“Well?” She asked.

Ethan sighed. “She said a lot of stuff. Basically explaining why she was helping your mum. She wants to apologise for hurting you.”

“Did she apologise to you and Hannah and Ebony too?”

“No. But I think you should read it yourself. You don’t have to right now, just whenever you’re ready.” He says, pulling her close to him. She wraps her arms around his neck, resting her head on his shoulder.

“Maybe I’ll read it one day, but right now I just want to move on from everything that happened yesterday.”

“Me too, babe.” He kissed the top of her head. “Me too.”

* * *

It had been nearly three weeks since the kidnapping incident when Ethan is awoken by screams. He sits bolt upright in bed; Lex was somehow still asleep next to him as he identifies the screams as Hannah’s. He races out of his bedroom and over to her’s. He finds her thrashing around in bed, the blankets twisting around her. She was clearly in the throws of a nightmare.

He kneels down next to the bed. “Hannah, wake up.” He shakes her gently. “Hannah.”

Eventually she wakes up, her eyes filled with fear as she looks at Ethan. She immediately grabs onto him as she begins to cry. He sits back on the floor as she situates herself onto his lap.

“Shhh, it’s okay, Banana. It was just a dream.” He rocks her back and forth. He rubs her back as she hugs him tighter. “It wasn’t real.”

After a few minutes of him comforting her, Hannah stopped crying, though she continued to hug Ethan tightly.

“You wanna try going back to sleep?” He asked.

She shook her head. She’d yet to say anything since waking up, though this wasn’t completely unusual. Often she’d make requests, be they sitting with a certain person or having a snack before going back to sleep.

“I’m getting a bit sore sitting on your floor, Banana, is it okay if we sit on your bed?”

She nods her consent and he moves them over to her bed. He leans his back against her pillows making himself confortable. There was no telling how long he was going to be there with her. He notices her shiver slightly and pulls the blankets over them.

“Is that better?”

She nods.

They sit like that in silence for a while until Ethan is sure she’s fallen back to sleep. Still, he stayed there for a while longer, not wanting to accidentally wake her up by moving to soon.   
He was worried that her dream had something to do with her encounter with her mum. She hadn’t said anything about it since they got home, and he and Lex hadn’t said anything to her about it, not wanting to upset her. He hoped this was just a normal sort of bad dream and not her reliving whatever had happened in that car before they’d gotten there.  
He and Lex had seen the large bruise on Hannah’s knee and assumed that it had been her mum’s doing. It was healed now though, along with the several small cuts she’d gotten from breaking the window. 

They’d also noticed some small changes in her behaviour, the main one being that she no longer held Ebony while walking home from school, or whenever they were out in public. She’d just always keep one hand on the handle of the stroller. It also took her a bit more encouraging to go to school in the mornings. She’d get ready and hop in the car no problem, but when it came to entering the school and being on her own she didn’t want to go.

Hannah knew she was safe at school, even Webby had apparently said so. But she just had a hard time believing it. She would where her headphones and the magic hat more often whilst out and about and Ethan and Lex were starting to get worried. He knew that if this dream was about that fateful day, than he and Lex definitely needed to talk it through with her.  
Ethan had slowly started to drift off, still sitting with Hannah in her bed, eventually falling asleep himself, hoping that Hannah would be okay.

* * *

Lex awoke the next morning to an empty space beside her. It wasn’t often that Ethan woke up before her, but it had happened a few times before. Though it was unusual for his side of the bed to be cold. She checked the time, seeing if she’d overslept, which she hadn’t.

She got up and saw that Ebony was awake, so picked her up and brought her with her to the kitchen. On the way she ducked into Hannah’s room to wake her up for school. That’s where she found Ethan.

He was half slumped in Hannah’s bed with her curled up on top of him. Lex figured that she’d had a nightmare or something and that Ethan had gone to calm her down.

She went over to them. “Wake up, you two.” She said, shaking them awake.

Ethan groaned before opening his eyes. He took a moment to realise where he was. “Oh, did I fall asleep here?”

“Yep.” She said. “Come on, Banana, time to get up.”

Hannah took a moment to sit up, rubbing the sleep from her eyes.

“‘Nana.” Ebony said, pointing at Hannah. The three of them froze for a moment, all eyes on the baby. “’Nana.” She said again and Lex passed her over to Hannah.

“Did she just say her first word?” Ethan asked, running a hand over his daughter’s head.

“Yeah, I think so.” Lex replied.

“What happens to our bet?”

“Move it to her second word.” Lex held out her hand.

Ethan shook it. “You’re on.”


	16. Chapter 16

“Hey, Hannah, can we talk to you for a sec?” Ethan asked that evening. Ebony had been put in her cot and it was time for he and Lex to talk to Hannah about everything that had happened.

“What about?” She asked, sitting herself between them on the couch.

“About what happened when mum took you.” Lex said.

Hannah suddenly looked afraid.

“Do you think you can tell us about what happened?”

She shrugged and cuddled up into Lex, who wrapped her arms around her. “Was scary.” She mumbled.

“We know, Banana, but you’ve been acting differently and we want to help you be less scared.” Ethan said, rubbing her back.

She sighs, staying silent a moment before speaking. “Said bad things. Kept yelling lots. Made Ebbi cry, then yell about that. Called me and you.” She poked Lex. “And Ebbi bad things.”

“Were the things she said the same or worse than what she said in the trailer?” Lex asked.

“Worse because no Lexi there to protect me. I had to be the Lexi for Ebbi, and I don’t know how to do that.” Hannah looked up at her sister with tears in her eyes, who hugged her to her.

“Can you tell us what else happened?”

“Kept yelling, kept telling me to make Ebbi be quiet but I couldn’t because she was crying because of the yelling, because bad colours. Then put us in the boot.”

“What does ‘bad colours’ mean?” She asked.

Hannah shrugs. “Webby says that Ebbi sees people’s colours. Good people are good colours, bad people are bad colours.”

“But what’s a good colour and what’s a bad colour?”

She shrugs again. “I think we need to wait until Ebbi can explain it.”

“Okay.” She says nodding slowly, thinking all this about the colours through.

“What about the other woman? Did she do anything?” Ethan asked.

“Grabbed me and Ebbi. Didn’t say much. Sometimes agree with mum sometimes didn’t. Wanted to give us food when we stopped.” Hannah said.

“Do you think she’s a bad colour?” Lex asked.

She shrugged. “Too close to mum to tell.”

Ethan nods. “The bad dream you had last night, did it have anything to do with her or your mum?”

She nodded, hugging Lex tighter. “Got grabbed again.”

“Are you scared it’s going to happen again?”

She nodded. “Don’t know how to do protecting. Don’t know how to be Lexi.” She whispered. “Don’t want to be alone.”

Lex gently wiped the tears from her eyes and tilted her chin so she was looking her straight in the eye. “You’re not alone, Hannah. Me and Ethan and Ebbi are right here. And even if we’re not there in person, we love you and you love us, so we will always be with you in your heart.” She put her hand over Hannah’s heart. “We’re not going anywhere, okay? And we’re not going to let anyone take you away from us.”

“Promise?”

“Promise.”

Hannah hugged her before slowly moving out of the embrace. “Ethan promise too?”

“I promise, Split.” He said.

She nodded. “Good.”

The three of them sat cuddled together in a comfortable silence. After a while, Hannah broke it.

“Lexi?”

“Yeah?”

“I don’t want mum to be my mum anymore. Can you be my mum and Ethan my dad? Because you two are good parents and I want good parents.” She looked up at them with hopeful eyes.

Lex and Ethan looked at each other before looking at Hannah.

“Please?” She said upon not get an answer straight away.

“Okay, Banana.” Ethan said. “We can be your parents if you want us to be.”

Her face lit up like a Christmas tree. “Thank you!” She hugged them both, wrapping an arm around them each before she got up off of the couch bouncing up and down on her toes. “I’m gonna go tell Ebbi that we get to be sisters.”

“She’s asleep right now, do you think you can wait till tomorrow?” Lex asks, getting off the couch too.

Hannah nods after pausing a moment. “Can I go to bed now so it’s tomorrow sooner?”

“Sure. Say good night to Ethan then.”

“He’s not Ethan anymore, he’s my dad.” Hannah said giving him a hug. “Na-night dad.”

“Night, Banana.” He said kissing the top of her head.

* * *

It had been a few days since Ebony’s first word and Lex was sure the second could happen at any moment. She was also fairly certain that she would win the bet she had going with Ethan, seeing as it wasn’t a far stretch to go from ‘nana to mama.

Lex was in the kitchen, doing a bit of clean up after dinner and Ebony was sitting on the bench playing with a paddle pop stick left over from one of Hannah’s school projects.

“Mama.” Ebbi said.

Lex immediately looked up, seeing Ebony reaching for her.

“Mama.” She said again, growing a little impatient.

Lex went over to her and picked her up. “Aren’t you the best daughter, you didn’t want your mum to lose her bet with dad, did you?”

Hannah heard this as she came into the kitchen. “Did Ebbi say a new word?”

“Uh huh. Can you say it again, Ebbi?”

“’Nana.” She said pointing at Hannah.

“Yes, that’s Banana, who am I.” Lex said pointing at herself.

“Mama.”

“Yay!” Hannah said bouncing up and down. “Good job Ebbi!”

“What’s going on in here?” Ethan said, coming into the room.

“Who am I, Ebbi?” Lex asked again, grinning immensely knowing Ethan was about to find out that he’d lost.

“Mama.” She said, patting Lex’s face.

“Oh come on!” He exclaimed, though he was smiling broadly. “I swear you girls are ganging up on me.” He points at them accusingly. “You guys get the first and second word, definitely unfair. Lex, next kid has to be a boy, I’m getting too outnumbered.”

“I’ll be sure to write a letter to the baby fairy.” She said sarcastically before turning to Ebony. “I think your dad’s jealous that you like me more than him.”

Hannah starts giggling.

“Hey!” He says walking over to them. “You’re a daddy’s girl, aren’t you Ebbi?” 

To prove his point Ebony reaches for him and he takes her from Lex’s arms.

“See. She likes me more.” He sticks his tongue out at Lex who just rolls her eyes. “Now for the real test.” He turns Ebony so that she’s facing the still giggling Hannah and Lex. “Who’s that?” He points at Hannah

“’Nana.”

“And who’s that?” He moves to point at Lex.

“Mama.”

He then turns Ebony so that she’s facing him, pointing at himself. “And who am I?”

She blows a spit bubble, giggling when it pops.

“C’mon Ebbi. All you gotta do is say dada. It’s not that hard, you can do it.”

Again she says nothing but reaches out and patting his cheeks.

“They put you up to this, didn’t they? They told you not to say dada.” He gave a mock glare to Hannah and Lex.

“You gotta face facts, babe, she likes us more.” Lex says, kissing his cheek.

“I reckon you’ve been cheating. You’re home all day with her, I bet you’ve been couching her to say mama all this time.” He says.

“Nope. You’re just in denial that you lost, I’m sure it’ll wear off while you wash that pile of dishes over there.” She says with a smirk taking Ebony back from him. “Come on girls, let’s watch a movie while dad get’s to work.”

Hannah laughs and heads out to the living room with Lex and Ebony.

“You’re mean.” He calls after them.

“Love you too, even if you are a sore loser.” Lex says over her shoulder.

"I'm not a sore loser!" 

"Once you've finished with the dishes, you can sweep the floor."

* * *

“I think I’m going to read it.” Lex said that night as Ethan climbed into bed next to her.

“Huh?” He said. He’d only just finished doing all of the chores she had given him as per the bet he had just lost. He swore she made some of them up just so he’d be doing them right up until the girls finished their movie.

“The text. I think I’m going to read it.” She looked over to him, to gauge what he was thinking.

“Are you sure?” He grabbed her hand.

“Yeah.” She nodded. “I don’t think I’ll read it tonight, but I will read it. Soon. I want to know what she was thinking.”

“That’s fair.” He said as she curled into him. “And just because you read it doesn’t mean you have to talk to her if you don’t want to. You know that, right?”

“Yeah I know.” She sighs. “I want to know if I had any worthwhile ancestors, or if I’m destined to be as crappy a person as they are.”

“Well, for one, you are not crappy, you’re the best person I know. And two, your ancestry doesn’t determine your future. Genetics doesn’t play in to whatever decisions you make.”

“You’ve read the text, would you say that she was a bad person?” She looked up at him.

“The impression I got was that she was just desperate to reconnect with her daughter, and I can’t fault her on that.” He couldn’t imagine what it would feel like to not see or hear from Hannah or Ebony for so many years. “I mean, the way she did it was wrong, but she just wanted to see you guys again.”

“Surely she knew that a kidnapping spree wasn’t the best way to reconnect.”

Ethan shrugged. “I think reading that text is the best way to understand what she was thinking. I can give you the gist, but it’s not quite the same, if that makes sense.”

She nods. “Yeah. I’ll read it tomorrow.”

He smiled softly at her. “If you need me, I’ll be right here.” He squeezes her hand.

“Thanks, babe, I love you.”

“Love you too.” He kisses the top of her head.


	17. Chapter 17

It was getting late at night the girls were already in bed asleep. Lex was curled up on the couch; her phone lay in front of her open to the messages app. There lay the text message from her grandmother she had yet to read. She was yet to open the message itself but the number glared up at her.

Ethan sat next to her, holding her hand. He raised her knuckles to his lips, kissing them. She squeezed his hand in return, not moving her eyes from her phone.

“You don’t have to read it if you’re not ready.” He said softly.

“I know, I just…” She turns to face him. “I just want to know what she was thinking. I need to know what she was thinking.” She pauses. “Does that make sense?”

“It makes perfect sense, babe.” He kisses her forehead.

“Why can’t I just read it?” She was getting frustrated with herself. Every time she’d go to open the message she’d hesitate and go back to doubting her decision to read it in the first place. “This is stupid. It’s a text message! I read texts all the time, why is it so hard to read this one?” She looks at Ethan, searching his eyes to see if he may have an answer.

He pulls her close to him, wrapping his arms around her. “Because, this text is from a grandmother you never knew existed. From a woman who hurt you deeply. That message holds a different interpretation of what happened. It’ll tell you why it happened. You don’t have to read it though, Lex, not if you don’t want to.” He runs a hand up and down her back. 

She sits back a bit, stealing her nerves. “I’m going to read it.” She picks up her phone.

“I’m right here for you. If you want me to do anything just let me know, okay?”

She nods. “Can you just sit next to me and hold my hand?”

“Of course.” He picks up her hand once more as she opens the message.

She reads it through, and then again. She turns her phone off and sits back.

“Are you okay?” He asks after a long moment of silence.

“Did she honestly think that kidnapping two children would be the best way to reconnect with mum and me?” She says quietly, not looking up at Ethan as she spoke.

“I don’t know, babe.”

“She says she wanted to see me again. She could’ve just messaged me on Facebook, reconnect that way, not go and kidnap my kids, because we all know what a good first impression that is.” Lex sighed, leaning into Ethan. “She said she realised what she was doing was wrong when she saw me run after them. How couldn’t she realise how wrong it was before than. She wants me to forgive her. How could I possibly forgive the woman who helped steal Hannah and Ebony away from us?” She then looked up at Ethan; her eyes wet with unshed tears.

“You don’t have to forgive her.” He squeezes her hand.

“Why are my ancestors so messed up?”

“I don’t know, babe. But you know what they say about history, those who don’t know it are destined to repeat it. You saw what your mum’s like and you are the complete opposite. You learned from her mistakes and you learned how to care about people.” He cupped her face with his other hand. “I know you’re scared of becoming like them, but I don’t think there’s even a remote chance of that happening. You’re too good a person to go around kidnapping kids.”

“Thanks.” She said half smiling. “She only apologised to me, though. She didn’t apologise to Hannah and Ebony for taking them. She didn’t apologise to you for causing you pain too.”

“She wasn’t talking to the rest of us, babe, she was talking to you.”

“She may as well be talking to you, you did read her text after all.”

“She didn’t know I would.”

“Still, I don’t like that she didn’t apologise to you or the girls, plus she called you my ‘no good boyfriend’, that’s not true at all.”

“She was just quoting your mum.”

“Regardless, you’re not my ‘no good boyfriend’, you’re my all good husband.” She smiles softly up at him.

He grins back at her, kissing her softly. “Thanks for that assessment, babe.”

“You deserve it. You’re so good to me and the girls and we love you for it.”

“I love you guys too.” 

They kiss again, this one long and lingering.

“Thank you for being here for me.” Lex whispers when they break apart, resting their foreheads against each other.

“Always, babe.”

* * *

It was a bright Saturday morning and it was going to be a big day. The time had come for Ebony to face perhaps the biggest change of her little life. She was moving out of Ethan and Lex’s room and into Hannah’s.

Hannah was very excited. “We’re gonna share a room, Ebbi!” She kept saying as she bounced up and down on her toes.

Lex and Ethan were most certainly relieved that Hannah was keen to share a room with Ebony. Lex for one, had worried that she wouldn’t want to share after going nearly two years having one of her own. 

While Lex had still been pregnant, she’d worried about Hannah not liking the baby, already knowing that they’d most likely be sharing a room at least at some point. 

She and Ethan had begun searching for a larger apartment, however. They knew that their current one was fine for the four of them at the moment, but as Hannah and Ebony got older, they’d most likely want their own space. And if they had more kids they’d definitely need a bigger place.

But for now the only moving was Ebony going to the room next door.

It didn’t take overly long to move her things into Hannah’s room. Ethan was able to just pick up and carry the cot and small chest of draws that held Ebony’s clothes into the other room. The part that took the longest was Hannah and Lex trying to figure out the best way to arrange the room.

They had to move around a few of Hannah’s things to make space for Ebony. In theory it shouldn’t have been too difficult to go about shifting a few pieces of furniture here and there, Hannah didn’t have much to begin with. But she kept not liking the way something was placed, so they’d have to try again with Lex suggesting new arrangements, helping Ethan move the various items. 

It took a good chunk of the day to get everything just right, but once they’d finished they all collapsed down onto Hannah’s bed. After a moment, Hannah jumped back up and grabbed Ebony from where she had spent the day sitting in the corner with a few of her favourite toys.

Hannah climbed back onto the bed with Ebony, laying the two of them across Ethan and Lex, giggling as they each let out a small groan at her sudden weight atop them.

Lex wriggled out from beneath the two girls and stood up. She went over to the baby monitor they’d recently purchased and switched it on.

“You guys make some noise in here and I’ll see if I can hear you.” She said, walking to her’s and Ethan’s room and switching on the other end of the monitor.

“Testing, testing, one, two, three.” Came Hannah’s voice over the monitor. “Mum, do you read me, over?”

At first it had felt a bit odd for Hannah to call her mum and Ethan dad. She still called them by their given names occasionally but it was now mostly their parental titles. It was easy for Hannah to start calling them mum and dad, seeing as they were the closest to proper parents she’d ever had.

“I read you, over.” Lex said. They’d gotten a two-way monitor, because Ethan though it would be useful.

She switched the monitor off and went back into the other room.

Ethan was now standing by the bed holding Ebony while Hannah was working on climbing up onto his shoulders. Once she was up there she reached down for Ebony.

“Now Ebbi sits on my shoulders.” She said as she lifted up the baby.

“Oh no you don’t.” Lex rushes over and takes hold of Ebony.

Hanna pouted. “We were making a triple-decker.” 

“You honestly thought that was a good idea?” Lex gives Ethan a look.

He shrugs, still with Hannah on his shoulders. “She just started climbing me, I didn’t know why.”

“But you said ‘let’s try it’.” Hannah said, leaning over to see his face.

“Oh really, is that so.” Lex raises an eyebrow at Ethan.

“Hannah! You weren’t meant to rat me out.” He says.

“Sorry.” She says, hugging his head.

“You seriously thought that was a good idea?” Lex asked again.

“It would’ve been fine, babe.” He said.

“They could have fallen, Ethan.”

“Hannah’s never fallen from my shoulders before, and she would’ve been holding onto Ebbi.”

“She’s never fallen because she’s been holding on to you. Sorry, but no triple-decker piggy back.”

“Please?” Hannah begged.

“You heared her, Banana, no triple-decker.” He lifts her off of his shoulders and puts her on the ground.

* * *

That night Lex and Ethan fell onto their bed, limbs tangled as they kissed each other. They rolled so that she was lying on top of him as they pressed deeper into the kiss.  
Lex breaks off and sits back a little so she can see his face as he smiles up at her.

“Hi.” He says, moving a strand of hair out of her face and behind her ear, allowing his hand to linger on her cheek.

She leans into his touch. “Hey.”

“I love you.”

“I love you too.”

They begin to kiss once again. She rests her hands on his bare chest while his fingers become entangled in her hair.

They break apart once again after several minutes, both breathing heavily. Lex moves so that she is now lying on her back next to him, planting a soft kiss on his cheek before resting her head on his shoulder. He wraps his arms around her, holding her close to him.

“It’s strange having the room to ourselves again.” She said, breaking the silence.

Ethan hummed his agreement.

“Is it weird that I miss her?”

“Yes, because she’s literally in the next room, but I totally get it babe.” He rested his head on top of hers, breathing in the smell of her shampoo.

“She’s growing up. Hannah is too.” She sighed. “She’s gonna be ten soon, can you believe it?”

“There’s no way she’s turning ten.”

“She is.”

“She used to be so small.” He says.

“You’re telling me. She was this tiny little baby, smaller than Ebbi was. Now she’s all grown up.” Lex sighs. “Before we know it, Ebbi’s gonna be turning ten too.”

“She technically is turning ten, she just has to go through ages one-nine first.” He smiles.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I've been trying to figure out what the next major plot point should be and I figured it out yesterday, so Yay. You guys are gonna be in for a fun ride.
> 
> Also fun fact this is the first time Lex or Ethan mention their relationship status because up until a few days ago I still hadn't decided


	18. Chapter 18

“Mummy, daddy, wake up!”

Lex woke up to Hannah jumping on top of her and Ethan, bouncing up and down with a big grin on her face.

“Wake up! It’s my birthday!” She says louder than she normally ever said anything.

“Can’t be.” Ethan said grabbing Hannah so that she was lying down between them. “You had your birthday last year.”

“I have it every year.” She said giggling.

“Oh yeah? How old are you now then?” He asked.

“Ten!” She held up all of her fingers in his face to show him.

“No way, I swear yesterday you were nine.”

“I was, but today I’m ten, that’s how birthdays work.” She continued to giggle.

“Then I guess I owe you a happy tenth birthday, miss Banana.”

“Happy birthday, Hannah.” Lex said kissing the top of her head.

“I get to be double digits now, like you guys.” She said, giving Lex a hug.

“Yeah, you’re all grown up now.” She smoothed back a few loose strands of Hannah’s hair, which was still messy from sleep. “Now, what would the birthday girl like for breakfast?” She said sitting up bringing Hannah with her.

“Ethan pancakes!” She said immediately.

“You heard her, get cooking.” Lex pulled Ethan so he was sitting up, which he did with a slight groan and a yawn.

“Yeah, get cooking!” Hannah started shoving him out of bed.

“Alright, alright, geez, give a man time to wake up.” He said as he stood up, stretching before making his way out of the room and into the kitchen.

As he left, Lex glanced at the clock radio on her bedside table, which read 6:05 AM. It was earlier than she would have liked to wake up, but it was definitely an improvement on last year’s 5:30 AM. Lex who was five months pregnant at the time, didn’t very much appreciate such an early wake up, though luckily Ethan had took it upon himself to distract Hannah so she could get a bit more sleep.

“Do you know if Ebbi is awake, Banana?” She asked, getting out of bed herself.

“Still asleep.” She replied. “Didn’t wake her because I don’t think she knows what birthdays are ‘cause she hasn’t had one.”

Lex nods. “You wanna help Ethan with the pancakes while I got check on her?”

Hannah nods eagerly and races off to the kitchen.

Lex takes her time going into Hannah and Ebony’s bedroom. When she entered she found that the baby was sitting up awake.

“Mama.” She said when she spotted Lex come through the door.

“Good morning.” She said, scooping the baby up into her arms.

Ebony let out a hiccough and immediately started crying. This happened every time she got a case of the hiccoughs, and Lex couldn’t blame her. Hiccoughs were a pain in the neck, not to mention a rather uncomfortable feeling.

“Oh dear.” She said, patting Ebony on the back. “You’ll be alright, they’re just hiccoughs.”

She calmed down a little only to start crying again as she hiccoughed once more.

Still rubbing her back, Lex makes her way into the kitchen where the pancake preparation is well under way.

“You got to stir it till there aren’t any lumps.” Ethan instructs Hannah who is stirring a bowl full of ingredients. 

“Good?” She asks, showing Ethan the bowl so he can inspect it.

“Not bad birthday Banana, we’ll make a pancake chef of you yet.”

She grins and stirs the mixture a bit more for good measure.

Ethan walks over to Lex and Ebony who is still upset over her hiccoughs. He gives Lex a quick kiss before addressing his daughter.

“Hey, what’s wrong Ebbi?”

“Dada-“ She is cut off by her own hiccough and starts to cry fresh tears. She reaches out for him and he takes her into his arms.

“You wanna help me and Banana make pancakes?” He asks, bouncing her gently on his hip to try and soothe her tears. “Course you do, come on.” Before he returns to the pancake making he give Lex a kiss on the cheek. “Wanna join in on the fun, babe?”

“I think I’ll just watch.” She says.

He shrugs. “Suit yourself.” He goes back over to Hannah.

“Don’t cry Ebbi.” She says. “You can help me stir if you like.” She takes Ebony’s hands and guides them to the spoon waiting for her to grab it before Hannah takes hold of the spoon as well. “Like this.” She begins stirring the mixture with Ebony.

The swirling batter transfixes Ebony, her hiccoughs now forgotten as she helps Hannah stir.

After a bit Hannah stops stirring and looks up at Ethan. “Chocolate now?”

“Yep.” He pulls out a bag of Chocolate chips and opens it. “Now before we put it in the batter, we need to make sure they’re okay.” He picks one out of the bag and pops it into his mouth. “Hmmm, not bad, but I think you should try one too, just to be safe.” He says.

She giggles and takes out a piece of chocolate of her own and eats it. “I think they’re good.” She declares.

Ebony goes to grab herself some but is stopped.

“Not for you, Ebbi. You can have some when you’re older, and have teeth.” Ethan says, moving her hands away from the packet, tipping the contents into the pancake batter.

“Yeah Ebbi, you need to have a birthday first before you can have chocolate.” Hannah says, stirring the chips into the mixture.

“I think that’s good enough.” Ethan says once the chocolate is well dispersed throughout the batter. He grabs out a large frying pan and puts it on the hot plate, turning on the heat. “I think we’ll wait until next birthday for you to do the cooking part. How about you get out some plates and knives and forks, plus whatever you want to put on the pancakes.”

Hannah nodded and started pulling out the bits and pieces required to eat the pancakes, carefully lining them up on the kitchen bench.

Soon Ethan produced a pile of steaming hot pancakes, which he, Hannah and Lex immediately dug into. Lex didn’t often indulge in Ethan’s pancakes, but it was a special occasion so she decided to eat her fill.

“I’m full.” Hannah declared after her third pancake, slumping back in her chair.

“Nice to meet you full, I’m dad.” Ethan said holding out his hand for Hannah to shake. She doesn’t take it, sticking her tongue out at him instead, though she giggles afterwards.

Lex face palms. “That has to be the worst dad joke out there.” She says.

Ethan shrugs, smiling widely. “I’m a dad, Lex, the jokes come with the title.”

“You think you’re so funny, don’t you?”

“I don’t think, I know.” He taps a finger to his forehead.

Lex rolls her eyes, before turning her attention to Hannah. “As soon as Ethan and I are finished you can open your presents if you like.”

Hannah beamed and got up from the table, clearing away her plate, fork and knife. She returned to the table to keep and eye on Lex and Ethan’s plates.

“Finished yet?” She asked after a minute.

“Not quite.” Lex said, continuing to eat her pancake.

“How about now?”

“Be patient, Hannah.”

Hannah waited a few more seconds this time before asking. “Done now?”

With a sigh Lex put down her fork. “Okay.”

“Yay!” She began bouncing up and down as Lex got up and retrieved the presents from beneath her bed where they’d been hidden.

Ethan managed to shovel down a few more mouthfuls of pancake before joining the girls on the living room floor, bringing Ebony with him. They all sat on the floor with the presents in front of Hannah.

Ebony wriggled her way off of Ethan’s lap and crawled over to Hannah. She’d started crawling the previous week, which meant that whenever she was put down a close eye had to be kept on her, otherwise she’d go off to some hidden corner.

“’Nana.” She said as Hannah moved her into her lap.

“You can help me if you want. Good practice for your birthday.” She picked up the first present and guided Ebony through how to open it. The first present was something that Lex had found while she was at a two-dollar shop. It was a mechanical spider toy, about the size of her hand. When the string was pulled it would crawl around in different directions. 

“Thank you.” Hannah said, testing it out. Ebony began to crawl after it, sitting down and patting it when it stopped.

Hannah moved on to the other presents. There were a handful of sparkly bangles and necklaces, which she immediately put on all at once, a selection of stuffed animals, and her favourite, a Nintendo DS that Ethan had gotten off of EBay along with a few games.

She thanked them after she unwrapped each present and once they were all done she gave them big hugs.

“Thank you.” She said again while hugging them.

“You’re welcome, Banana.” Lex said, kissing the top of her head. “Now, I say it’s time that we all got dressed, Ethan’s got to go to work soon.”

He was already running a little late. He didn’t mind though, he loved getting to spend time with his three favourite people. Besides, his commute would be shorter because he didn’t have to take Hannah to school. Lex always let her stay home on her birthday so that it would have a much higher probability of being a good day.

“Don’t want you to go.” Hannah said hugging him when the time had come for him to leave.

“Sorry, birthday Banana, I couldn’t get the day off. But guess what I’m gonna bring home with me?”

“What?”

“Birthday cake.”

Hannah’s face lit up with excitement. “Okay, you can go now.”

He laughed. “Okay, I’ll see you later.” He said goodbye to his three girls before leaving.

* * *

“Was today a good day?” Lex asked as she tucked Hannah into bed that night.

“Good day.” She replied sleepily. She cuddled up with her new stuffed animals, making sure they all got their share of the blanket.

“I’m glad.” Lex kisses her forehead, brushing wisps of hair away from her eyes. “Good night birthday girl.”

“Na-night.” She whispered back, already half asleep.

Lex went to leave but was stopped.

“Lexi?”

“Yes?”

“What was it like when I was born?”

She went over and sat on the edge of Hannah’s bed. “Well, I don’t know much about the whole you being born part, but I can tell you what it was like meeting you for the first time.”

Hannah nodded and snuggled down into her mattress, getting ready for the story.

“So, it was exactly ten years ago. I came home from school and there you were lying on the couch back in the trailer. I knew that you were coming but I didn’t know when. You were born early so it was even more of a surprise. You were so small those first few days. You remember how big Ebbi was when she was born?”

Hannah nodded.

“Well you were even smaller. And you were just lying there on the couch, mum was nowhere to be found, but I knew that was a good thing. You were crying when I came home. Not loud crying like Ebbi. You always were a soft crier, I think it was because that if it were much louder you’d become overwhelmed, but I didn’t know that then. I sat down on the couch next to you and picked you up. I said ‘hello baby, I’m Lex.’ You calmed down straight away and just looked up at me. I remember looking down at you and smiled, really smiled for the first time that I could remember. I got to be properly happy for the first time when I met you.” She finishes her story, seeing that Hannah was now sleeping.

Lex turned off the light and closed the door after quickly checking to make sure Ebony was asleep. She went out into the kitchen and began helping Ethan clean up. They worked together, washing dishes and boxing up leftovers.

Once they’d finished they sat down on the couch cuddled up together.

“All in all, I say that this was a successful tenth birthday.” Ethan said.

“Hannah enjoyed herself.”

“Yeah. Now we just got to get ready for the next birthday. Whose birthday is next?”

Lex looked at him incredulously. “Yours, dumbass.”

“Oh right. I thought Ebbi was next.”

“Nope, it’s you then Ebbi.”

“Right, but you don’t need to do anything for my birthday. Ebbi’s is an important birthday, ‘cause, you know, it’ll be her first.” He says.

“I am most certainly going to do something for your birthday. It’ll be your twenty-first, you’ll be able to get alcohol legally.”

“Yeah but that’s not really something that the four of us can partake in.”

Lex leans into him further. “Well I’ll come up with something that we can all do then.”


	19. Chapter 19

Lex was starring down at her phone, the message from her grandmother open. She had just re-read it. She’d done this a few times since fist reading it. Every week or so she’d open the message and read it again, wondering if she should reply. She had questions to ask her grandmother, but still didn’t really want to talk to her.

She turned the phone off and lay back in bed. She’d been there all day as she hadn’t felt well that morning so Ethan insisted she had a rest while he took the girls out Christmas shopping. Lex knew she was fine, feeling much better now, but also knew Ethan was using this as a way to buy her Christmas present without her knowing what they were. She didn’t need anything, but he always got her something whenever the opportunity presented itself.

It wasn’t long after she’d turned off her phone that she heard the front door open. She heard Hannah giggling and the pitter-patter of her feet running off somewhere. Not long after the bedroom door opened and Ethan stuck his head in, Ebony in his arms.

“Hey, how are you feeling?” He asked, coming in a sitting next to her.

“Fine, just tired really.” She replied, sitting back up and resting her back against the pillows.

Ebony wriggled her way out of Ethan’s arms and crawled over to Lex, who put her in her lap. “Did you and the girls have fun?”

“Yep, we got you some stuff for Christmas and Hannah’s hiding it so it’ll be a surprise.” He grinned, kissing her cheek.

She rests her head on his shoulder. “You didn’t need to get me anything.”

“Of course I did.” He wraps an arm around her. “You know I love getting you presents.”

“But I don’t need presents, I’ve already got everything I need.” She lifts her head and kisses him.

“Are you sure you’re feeling okay?” He asks after they break apart, putting his hand to her forehead to see if she had a temperature. “I’d hate for you to be sick over Christmas.”

“I told you, I’m fine. It’s probably just the change of the season getting to me. Besides, Christmas is still two weeks away so even if I get sick I’ll be better by then anyway.” She smiles at him, putting a hand to his cheek. “Stop worrying, okay?”

“You know I’m always going to worry.” He said smiling back. “You mean too much to me.”

“Well you can at least stop worrying about this then.” She gave him another quick kiss. “I love you.”

“I love you too, babe.”

At that moment Hannah came into the room clambering onto the bed. She was grinning madly, very pleased with herself for finding a good hiding place for Lex’s presents.

“Finished hiding the stuff?” Ethan asked her.

She nods. “I found the best hiding spot.” She turned to Lex. “Don’t go looking. It’ll ruin the surprise.”

“Don’t worry, I won’t.” Lex said smiling at her sister.

“Good.” Hannah says with a nod, still grinning.

“Did you guys do anything else while you were out?” She asks.

“Got hot chocolate but it was too hot at first.” She says recalling how she’d taken a sip before Ethan had tested it for her and how she’d started to panic slightly as she felt the scalding liquid go down her throat. He’d given her some water to help, but the tip of her tongue was still burnt. Though once it had cooled down enough, the hot chocolate had been very good.

“Are you okay?” Lex asked, knowing that Hannah didn’t like consuming things that were too hot.

“Am now.”

* * *

“I read the text again.” She said as she and Ethan got ready for bed that night.

“Yeah?” 

“Do you think I should reply?”

He sighed and sat down next to her, wrapping his arms around her. “I don’t know, babe. It’s up to you I guess. If you feel like you should reply then reply. But you have no obligation to do so.” 

They’d had this conversation before. Lex wanted to know more and wanted her grandmother to apologise to Ethan and the girls, but she still didn’t really want to have anything to do with the woman.

“I want her to apologise and I don’t think she’ll do it unless I respond to her.” She said.

“Do you want to respond?”

“I don’t know.” She sighed and slumped into Ethan. “Why is this so complicated?”

“That’s life, babe. Complicated.”

Things had been complicated in Hatchetfield, trying to find the right way to avoid her mum as much as possible, trying to keep Hannah safe. When they came to California and after they’d settled in things hadn’t seemed complicated for a while. Everything felt so much easier, granted it was hard work getting jobs and an apartment and enrolling Hannah into school, but compared to Hatchetfield it was smooth sailing. But then her mum had turned up again and life felt complicated once more.

“But, Lex, you keep reading that text and obsessing over it, I think part of you wants to reply and find out more about a part of you childhood you’ve never known about.” He says, kissing the top of her head.

“Yeah, you’re right. I just don’t want to get hurt again.” She admits quietly.

He holds her tighter at the confession. “I know. Maybe you should reply, maybe you shouldn’t, it’s entirely your decision and I will one hundred per cent support whatever choice you make.”

“Thanks, babe.”

They held each other in silence for a moment before the baby monitor came to life with the sound of a yelp followed by a thump from Hannah followed by the sound of her panicked breathing.

“I’ll go check on her.” Ethan said, giving Lex a quick kiss before leaving.

Once he was gone she took out her phone, opening it to where the text was She stared down at it, not reading it this time but looking at the space where she could leave a reply. Slowly she began to type, reading over her words several times before she took a deep breath and hit send.

>   
> I read your message.  
> 

She turned off her phone and placed it face down as she waited for Ethan to return, which he did so a few minutes later.

“She okay?” She asked as he returned to her side.

“Yeah, just tripped on her way to the bathroom, got a little panicked when she suddenly found herself on the floor, but she’s fine now.”

“Okay.” Lex nodded. “I replied.”

“And how do you feel?”

She shrugged. “About the same? I think I’ll know what to feel when she responds I guess.”

Right on cue her phone dings, alerting them to a new message. Lex flips over her phone to see that her grandmother had replied. Suddenly she felt to scared to read it.

“You read it.” She handed the device to Ethan who opens the text reading through it.

>   
> I’m glad to finally hear from you, Alexandra. I’ve been hoping you would one day read it and reply to me. I know it must be strange to find out you have a relative you never knew of, but I hope that you’ve come to accept me as your grandmother. I’ve missed you so much over the years and one day I would very much like to see you again if you’d allow it.  
> Sincerely,  
> Your grandmother, Veronica Foster.  
> 

“What does it say?” She asked as soon as he looked up at her after reading it.

He said nothing but handed the phone to her. Slowly she took it from him and read the message for herself. She turned it off and put it down.

“I’m not going to respond just yet.”

“Okay.” Ethan nodded, bringing her into an embrace. “How are you feeling now?”

“I thought I’d know, but I don’t really. I feel scared still, like I’m worried she’s just trying to get to know me so that she can hurt me again. She wants me to accept her and trust her and go and see her, but I can’t. Not yet anyway.” She says, trying to explain her muddle of feelings.

“You can do whatever you want with this, babe.” He says kissing the top of her head. “You get to be the one in control, you don’t have to do anything you’re not ready for.”

* * *

It was getting closer to Christmas, it was only a few days away now and that evening Hannah and Lex were busy making cookies while Ethan played with Ebony. She was trying to figure out how to stand, her main problem being that she kept trying to stand on top of his leg, which wasn’t the best surface for learning to stand on.

“Ebbi, you’ve got to stay on the floor, it’ll be easier.” He said, holding her hands and helping her try and get onto her feet.   
She tried to get a firm footing but once again did so on his leg so she promptly fell over. Ethan caught her so she wouldn’t hurt herself, though she looked up at him with a quivering bottom lip on the verge of tears.

“Hey, it’s okay, don’t cry.” He said. “You’re really close. Let’s try again.” He placed her so she was sitting on the ground and took a hold of her hands once again. She put her feet on the ground this time and wobbled into a standing position, managing to stay balanced before falling back onto her bottom.

“Yes! You did it!” He said bringing her into his arms and kissing the top of her head. He then held her in front of him so that she could see his smiling face. She smiled back with her two-toothed smile and smacked her hands together in applause.

He stood up, bringing her with him. “Let’s go show mum and Hannah.” He walked into the kitchen and sat in the middle of the floor.

“Ethan, what are you doing?” Lex said as she nearly tripping over him while carrying a box of flour.

“Demonstrating.” He said. “Okay, Ebbi, do it again.” 

After thinking about it for a moment, Ebony repeated her standing, this time lasting a little longer before falling forwards into Ethan’s awaiting arms. She looked up to see Lex’s face and   
immediately smiled when she saw that she was beaming.

Lex picked up her daughter, planting a kiss on her forehead. “You’re going to be walking and running in not time, you clever girl.” 

“Yeah, good job, Ebbi!” Hannah said, clapping at the new achievement. Ebony copied the movement with splayed fingers, smiling at all the attention. Ethan got up and joined the girls, wrapping   
one arm each around Lex and Hannah.

The timer on the oven beeping, signalling that the cookies had finished baking interrupted them. Hannah rushed over to turn the timer off and opened the oven door, letting a big plume off   
steam and the aroma of fresh-baked cookies escape.

Lex wrinkled her nose from the strong smell as Ethan grabbed the oven mitts and took the hot tray out of the oven, turning it off.

“Can I have one?” Hannah asked, looking down at the cookies.

“Not yet, they’ll be too hot.” Lex said. “You have to wait a few minutes for them to cool down.”

“I know, but I’m hungry.”

“How can you be hungry, you just ate a bunch of cookie dough.”

She shrugged. “I’m just hungry for cooked cookies now though.”

“Then you’ll just have to be patient.”

She huffed before she turned to Ethan. “Can I have a cookie?”

He laughed. “You heard your mum, you have to wait. We can’t have you having a panic attack because you ate a cookie that was too hot.”

“Fine.” She slumped her shoulders and wandered off somewhere to find something to do while she waits.


	20. Chapter 20

It was very early on Christmas morning and Lex had woken up feeling like she could be sick at any moment. Hannah was yet to come in and jump on the bed, but that could change at any moment. She didn’t want to risk not being there when Hannah came in. She also didn’t want Ethan to know she was feeling unwell because he’d try and make her stay in bed all day and she didn’t want to miss out on Christmas. It was Ebony’s first one after all.

Lex’s stomach seemed to make the decision for her, so as carefully and quietly as she could she raced out to the bathroom. It hadn’t been the first time she’d felt sick in recent days, but it was the first time she’d actually thrown up. She hadn’t been telling Ethan about feeling sick so often. She didn’t want to worry him when she was perfectly fine. He did on occasion point out that she didn’t look to well, but she always managed to brush it off.

She flushed the toilet and quickly brushed her teeth before sneaking back to bed. Unfortunately Ethan had woken up, though he still looked half asleep.

“Where’d you go?” He mumbled.

“Needed to pee.” She said quickly as she pulled the covers back over her.

He opened his eyes and looked at her. “You look pretty pale, are you okay?”

“Yeah I’m fine. I think the lighting is making me look pale.” She shrugged, snuggling back up to him.

“Yeah okay.” He wrapped his arms around her, breathing in the scent of her shampoo. “Should try get more sleep before Banana wakes up.”

Lex hummed her agreement and closed her eyes. Not two seconds later the door opened and in came Hannah who promptly jumped on top of them. Lex groaned from the impact, having being feeling sore lately a ten-year-old on top of her was the last thing she wanted.

“It’s Christmas!” She shouted, sitting back on her heels and bouncing up and down. Back in Hatchetfield she had barely known what Christmas was or what was supposed to happen. All she’d heard about Christmas was from doing Christmas themed projects at school. When she’d asked Lex about it she had said that they couldn’t afford Christmas yet and that Santa couldn’t get his sleigh on top of the trailer roof. But now that they were in California they were able to have proper Christmases. Hannah had been a bit confused at first, not knowing what to expect, but now she looked forward to it and would always wake up very early from excitement.

“No shouting, please.” Lex said as she sat up. She didn’t want Hannah to accidentally wake up Ebony and have to deal with an upset baby all day.

The previous night when she tucked Hannah into bed, she’d made sure that Hannah understood that she wasn’t to wake up Ebony when she came into their room in the morning. The rule had been followed as far as Ebony was still in her cot and presumably still asleep.

“Merry Christmas.” Hannah said a bit quieter as she gave Lex a big hug. 

“Merry Christmas, Hannah.”

She broke away only to flop down on top of Ethan who was still lying down. “Merry Christmas.”

“Yeah, merry Christmas, Banana.” He muttered giving her a one-armed hug in return. Always without fail his least-favourite part about Christmas was being woken up ridiculously early by a far too excited child. It made him feel sorry for doing it to his own parents when he was little. “Why don’t you go make sure Santa came while we wake up.”

“Okay.” She nodded and raced off to see what was beneath the meagre Christmas tree in the living room.

Ethan pulled Lex back down next to him, holding her tightly.

“Let’s go back to sleep before she comes back.” He says.

She shakes her head and gives him a quick kiss. “Much as I’d love to, she’ll be expecting us.”

He groaned and reluctantly got up. They’d had to stay up late wrapping up the girls’ presents, adding the fact that Hannah woke them up particularly early this year he was very tired. At least he could sleep in tomorrow.

“Stop your whining, I’m tired too but you don’t hear me moaning and groaning about it.” Lex said.

“Because you’re a morning person, babe, I’m not.”

“We’ve got a ten-year-old and a nine-month-old, you don’t get a choice of whether or not you’re a morning person.”

“Well once they’re all grown up and moved out, I am staying in bed as long as I like.” He said.

“I reckon you’d get bored by 9 o’clock.”

“Ye of little faith.” He said, shaking his head though he still smiled at her.

She rolled her eyes as the two of them made their way out into the living room where Hannah was sorting the presents. She’d made two piled, one for her and one for Ebony. From those piles she arranged them for smallest to largest, making the line of presents into the shape of a Fibonacci spiral. She’d learned about them at school recently and had become rather obsessed with them, drawing them everywhere and always adding Webby to the centre.

“Ready to open them, Banana?” Ethan asked as he sat down on the couch, Lex sitting beside him.

“Need to wait for Ebbi.” She said.

“She’s still asleep, you can start opening without her.” Lex said.

Hannah shook her head and sat herself directly in between the two spirals. Though every few minutes she’d run into her room to see if Ebony had woken up, though she was always careful not to cause her to wake up. 

Finally after about half an hour Ebony had woken up so Hannah took her out of the cot and carried her into the living room, sitting her in front of her present spiral.

“Those ones are yours, Ebbi.” She said, sitting before her own spiral. “We can open them now.” She started carefully unwrapping the smallest present that sat at the tail of the spiral.

Ebony just sat there looking rather sleepy and confused. Hannah looked up and saw this.

“I think you need to help Ebbi.” She said to Lex and Ethan. “I’d help but I already started unwrapping.” It always made her quite anxious to stop in the middle of a task and do something else.

“Mum and dad to the rescue.” Ethan said, sliding off of the couch, pulling Lex with him. The sat either side of Ebony and helped her remove the wrapping paper from the first present. She seemed to catch on to what was happening and started tearing at the paper, clapping the torn off pieces between her hands, loving the crinkling noise it made.

They continued on this was until all the presents were unwrapped. Hannah’s discarded paper was stacked and folded in a neat pile, the presents from within still in their spiral. The paper from 

Ebony’s presents was torn up and strewn throughout the room.

Lex grabbed a bin bag and began gathering the pieces of torn paper. Then took Hannah’s pile and tucked it into a cupboard so she could reuse it throughout the following year on birthday presents.

“Okay, I say it’s breakfast time.” Ethan declared his statement punctuated by his stomach rumbling. “But first, Lex, you need to open your present. Go and grab it Hannah.”

Hannah ran off to her room, returning shortly after with a rectangular present.

“What is it?” Lex asked.

“Open it and find out.” He said.

Carefully she removed the paper revealing a scrapbook. She flicked through its’ pages seeing a collection of photos and souvenirs from their time in California so far. There were photos from their first time going to the beach, Ticket stubs from going to the movies, sonograms of Ebony before she was born and more. Lex was so touched by the present that she felt herself become close to tears.

“Thank you.” She said.

Ethan gave her a kiss. “I’m glad you like it.”

“I love it.” She smiled, giving him another kiss.

“I helped.” Hannah piped up, coming over and giving Lex a hug.

“Well, then thank you to you too, miss Banana.” She returned the hug and kissed the top of her head.

* * *

They had been enjoying the little holiday over Christmas. Hannah had especially liked not having to go to school. She didn’t mind the classes, but sometimes she didn’t understand the teacher or something would happen to set off a panic attack. At home hardly anything made her panic. That was until it came down to New Year’s.

Fireworks were a sure-fire way to give Hannah a panic attack. They hit with a double whammy, being both very loud and very bright. And in California there were a lot more fireworks then there had been in Hatchetfield.

Lex and Ethan had a plan in place however. It had worked fairly well last year and were hoping for equal success this year, though this time there was the wildcard that was Ebony. For Hannah they’d send her off to bed early with her headphones on, so that she’d be fast asleep by midnight and the headphones would stop them from waking her up. They didn’t have a way to stop Ebony from noticing them.

The main plan for Ebony was to have her sleep on Lex and Ethan’s bed until after the fireworks had happened, so that if she did wake up crying, she wouldn’t disturb Hannah.

So they put the plans into motion, putting the two girls to bed before sitting on the couch to watch the live video from New York. 

They sat together snuggled up on the couch with a blanket across their laps. Sitting on Ethan’s lap was a bowl of left over chocolate that he’d gotten for Christmas that they snacked from while waiting for the ball to drop.

Lex was lightly dozing on Ethan’s shoulder, it was only 9 o’clock but she was tired, it had been hard to get Hannah to go to bed when she was anxious about all the fireworks.

Ethan nudged her awake. “Wake up, the balls about to drop.”

She sat up a little more and watched as New York moved into the New Year. The Time’s Square fireworks display began to go off. They had turned the volume right down so that Hannah wouldn’t hear it.

As it drew closer to midnight in California, Lex got closer to actually falling asleep. 

“Hey, you look exhausted, do you wanna just call it the New Year and go to bed?” Ethan asked softly. 

“Yeah that sounds good.” She replied sleepily, sitting up from where she’d half been asleep on top of Ethan.

“Happy New Year, babe.”

“Happy New Year.”

They kissed for a long moment before breaking apart.

“Hey Ethan?” 

“Yeah?”

“I’m pregnant.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Fun fact: I was pretty obsessed with the Fibonacci sequence when I was 11 and literally spent an entire lunchtime seeing how high I could calculate it in my head


	21. Chapter 21

“Damn, that didn’t take long.” He said.

She hit his arm. “That’s what you’re gonna say?”

He shrugs. “It was an honest reaction and I stand by it.”

She rolls her eyes.

“But, I thought you wanted to wait?”

“Yeah, well, it’s a little late now.” Lex replied.

“Yeah. Sorry, I guess I sort of ruined that plan for you, didn’t I?”

“It takes two to tango, babe. Anyway, I’m not upset or anything, if that’s what you thinking. I’m honestly really excited.” She grinned.

He returned the smile and found himself becoming equally excited.

“I’m just worried about whether or not we can afford another kid.” She said, looking down at her lap. She and Ethan had spoken a few times about if she should go back to work. With Ethan’s job they were able to pay rent and Hannah’s school fees and groceries, though their budget was pretty tight when it came to anything else. When they found out that Lex was pregnant with Ebony, they saved every penny they could so that they’d have some spare cash for when Lex couldn’t work anymore. Luckily for them Ethan had gotten a raise not long after she was born, meaning that Lex was able to stay home with her for longer. 

The main thing about Lex going back to work was that they’d need to get childcare for Ebony. They couldn’t afford it on just Ethan’s wages alone, but if Lex was working they should, in theory, be able to afford it. But they wouldn’t need to afford it if Lex wasn’t working.

In all honesty, Lex didn’t particularly want to go back to work. She loved getting to stay home with Ebony all day and she didn’t know if she could trust someone else enough to take care of her.

“We’ll be okay.” Ethan said, tilting her chin so that she was looking at him once more. “We can use hand-me-downs from Ebony for him, and you’ve still got all your maternity clothes, so we can save there.

“Him?” Lex said, eyeing him.

“Yeah, well, remember how I said before that the next kid we have better be a boy so that I’m not so outnumbered? Well I’m just trying to influence the baby into being a boy.” He explained with a shrug.

“That’s not how genetics works, babe.”

“Eh, it was worth a shot.” He shrugged again.

“What if it’s another girl?” She asked, leaning into him.

“No matter what our baby turns out to be I’ll love it. Even if it’s a three-headed alien.” He wrapped an arm around her and kissed the top of her head.

Lex wrinkled her noise. “I don’t want to have to push out a three-headed alien.”

“Surely they’d give you a C-section if the kid had three heads.”

They sit cuddled up together in silence for a moment before Ethan breaks it.

“How long have you known?” He asked.

“I’ve kinda suspected it for a week or two but I only took a test yesterday.”

“So you haven’t gone to a doctor or anything yet?”

She shook her head. “They’re all on Christmas break for scheduled appointments. Besides,” She intertwined their fingers. “I’d like you to be there.” She looked up at him to find him smiling down at her.

“I’d love to be there, babe.” He replied. Ethan hadn’t gotten to go to the initial appointment for Ebony. Lex had gone in secretly to make sure she was pregnant before telling him. This time she was already pretty confident as she recognised the feel and the symptoms from last time.

She sighed, resting her head against his shoulder. “We’re gonna have to find a bigger apartment now.”

“I’ll ask the front desk guy if there are any bigger places available in the building.” He kissed the top of her head. “But we’ll be fine here for a while longer still, so no stressing out about it, okay?”  
She harrumphed. “Fine.”

“Good, because we can’t have you getting stressed.” He moved one of his hands down so that it rested on her stomach, rubbing his thumb up and down across the still flat surface. “How are you feeling? Like are you and the baby okay?”

“As far as I can tell, the baby’s fine. I’m fine too, just the morning sickness that sucks.”

He nods. “Yeah, I feel so bad that you have to deal with that.”

She shrugs. “It’s worth it though, right?”

“Definitely. I can’t wait for this little one to be born.”

“Me neither, though this baby better not be born for at least another eight months.

* * *

Her phone dinged with a new message. She picked it up from the kitchen bench where it sat and opened it, not bothering to see whom it was from assuming it was from Ethan. It wasn’t from Ethan.

>   
> Alexandra, I know that you have read my last text and I don’t want to rush you into anything, but I do very much want to see you again, though under much more preferable circumstances. I want you to feel able to ask anything of me, I will give you as honest an answer as I can. Maybe one day we could have a proper grandmother-granddaughter relationship. I hope that day will come. We could meet up in person a few times perhaps to talk things out. You could bring Hannah and Ebony along with you sometime, I’d love to see them again and get to know them too. But I won’t rush you.  
> Sincerely,  
> Your grandmother, Veronica Foster  
> 

Unlike previous times, Lex didn’t hesitate in responding.

>   
> There is no chance in hell I’m letting you anywhere near my girls.  
> 

She sent it before she could think twice about replying.

Veronica responded almost straight away.

>   
> I understand you feel protective towards them, but you must trust that I mean them no harm. They are my granddaughter and great granddaughter and I would like to get to know them too. But let’s focus on that later, first the two of us need to build a positive relationship. I think that would work best if we were to meet in person.  
> Sincerely,  
> Your grandmother, Veronica Foster  
> 

Lex did not want to see her grandmother. She was fine living life without her, she’d already done so. Veronica wanted to build a relationship and for them to see each other, but Lex didn’t want that. She had questions, sure, but she didn’t need nor want to have a grandmother-granddaughter relationship with her. She decided to tell her as much.

>   
> I don’t want a relationship with you. I don’t want to meet with you.  
> 

She put the phone down and went to get herself and Ebony ready to go pick Hannah up from school. It was her first day back after Christmas break and Lex hoped all had gone well. 

Always after holidays Hannah had a hard time readjusting to school, especially after the summer. She just got overwhelmed with the number of people around her, having become used to just the people at home.

Lex picked up Ebony to put her in her stroller, but she cried every time Lex lowered her into it, so resigned to carry her. She’d still bring the stroller so that once Ebony had calmed down she could put her in it.

Before leaving the apartment, she checked her phone to see that Veronica had replied.

>   
> I know you don’t feel as attached to me as I do to you. But, Alexandra, you are a young mother and you need someone to help guide you in the journey of raising a child.  
> Sincerely,  
> Your grandmother, Veronica Foster.  
> 

She grew angry with that as she read it. She quickly shot back a reply before beginning her walk to Hannah’s school.

>   
> I don’t need your help nor do I want my children to end up anything like yours.  
> 

She walked out the door, one hand pushing the stroller, the other holding Ebony.

The walk to pick up Hannah was uneventful and she ignored her phone when it vibrated. 

She didn’t have to wait long at the meeting spot before Hannah bounded out of her classroom. The magic hat was firmly planted on her head, but she bounced up and down a bit as she approached Lex.

“Hey, Banana, was it a good day or a bad day?” She asked, giving her a hug.

“Webby says there’s something good happening.” She replied.

“Did Webby tell you what it was?” Lex asked as they begun the journey back home.

Hannah shook her head. “Said I wasn’t meant to know yet, but that I’d find out soon.” She skipped along a little bit, holding the side of the stroller.

Lex was glad that she seemed to have had a good day. It had been hard to get her to go that morning. It hadn’t helped that Lex’s morning sickness had bee particularly bad as well.

The walk had been going smoothly until Hannah tripped on a portion of uneven pavement, landing hard on her hands and knees. She immediately started crying and panicking.

Lex put Ebony in the stroller, who thankfully didn’t fight it this time, and crouched down to help Hannah.

“Where does it hurt?” She asked, reaching a hand out to help her.

Hannah held out the palms of her hands to show that they were grazed and pointed at her knees, the left of which was bleeding. She was still breathing quickly, the sensation of pain and the lingering feeling of the footpath overwhelming her.

“Let’s put a Band-Aid on that knee, okay? That’ll make it feel better.” Lex grabbed a tissue and Band-Aid from her handbag and used them to clean and bandage the cut. “Can I have your hands?”

Hannah held out her hands and Lex took them gently before carefully blowing on the grazes. The cool air soothed the burning sensation she felt and Hannah began to calm down a bit, still sniffing occasionally.

“We’re nearly home, do you think you can walk the rest of the way?” Lex asked, brushing the loose hair out of Hannah’s face.

She shrugged, and shuffled closer to Lex so she could put her arms around her.

“Let’s try standing up, okay?” She slowly got up to her feet, helping Hannah to hers.

“Hurts.” She whispered, clinging as best she could to her sister without hurting her hands further.

“I know, but once we’re home we can fix you all up so it won’t hurt as much.” She kept one arm around Hannah while grabbing the stroller with the other. Together they continued to walk the few minutes left to the apartment.

As soon as they were in the front door Hannah carefully walked straight over to the couch and curled up as best she could without irritating her knees. Lex placed Ebony on the floor with some toys and went to fill a bowl with warm water to clean the grazes and scratches on Hannah’s hands and knees.

She was still on the couch when Ethan came home that evening.

“Hey Banana, what wrong?” He asked seeing that she wasn’t looking like her usual happy self. She’d normally always come over and give him a hug when he got home.

“Fell over.” She said holding out her hands so he could see the grazes.

“That’s no good.” He took her hands and gave them each a kiss. “Did that happen at school?”

“Way home.”

“Well at least then you had Lexi to take care of you.”

She nodded.

Ebony crawled up to Ethan and sat herself down on his feet. He looked down, bending over to pick her up.

“Hey Ebbi, how was your day?” He asked her.

She babbled something unintelligible, but he played along pretending he could understand her. “Let’s go find you mum and see what she’s been up to.” He said after a few minutes. He kissed the top of Hannah’s head as he left the room in search of Lex. He found her in the kitchen where she was getting started on dinner. 

“Hey, babe.” He said giving her a kiss.

“Hey, how was work?” She asked.

He shrugged. “It was alright I guess. How are you feeling?”

“I’m fine, and you don’t need to ask me that every time you see me.” She gave him a kiss on the cheek.

“My apologies for caring about the wellbeing of you and our baby.” He said. 

“I love that you care so much, you know that, it’s just starting to get a bit annoying that every other thing you say to me is ‘how are you feeling.’” She tried to impersonate him.

“I sound nothing like that.”

“I think I was pretty spot-on.”

“Sure, babe.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Kudos to whoever find The Good Place quote that's in this chapter.


	22. Chapter 22

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> "Hannah stop!"

“Why are you nervous?” Lex asked.

She and Ethan were sitting in the waiting room at the OBGYN office. She had Ebony happily sitting on her lap, while he sat next to her bouncing his leg up and down, typically something he did when nervous or anxious.

“Huh?” He drew himself out of his thoughts and turned to her.

“I said, why are you nervous?”

“I’m not nervous.” He said, actively stopping his leg from bouncing. “I’m excited.”

“It’s okay to be nervous.” She took his hand and intertwined their fingers. “I’m nervous too.” She rested her head on his shoulder.

“I really am excited.” He said resting his head on to of hers. “But, yeah, I guess I am a bit nervous, I just want everything to go well, you know?”

“Yeah.” She squeezed his hand. “I’m sure everything will be fine though.”

They were soon called into the doctor’s office. Ethan took Ebony from her as they entered the room.

“Please take a seat.” The doctor said, gesturing to the two chairs he had next to his desk. “I’ll just check your blood pressure, Lex, and then I’ll ask you a few questions.”

Lex nodded as he strapped the sphygmomanometer around her upper arm. She winced slightly as the machine tightened. She’d never been a fan of having her blood pressure taken and it was probably her least favourite part about going to the OBGYN. 

The sphygmomanometer released its grip on her arm and the doctor took it off after logging the result into his computer.

“Okay, that’s all looking good.” He said. “Can you describe your symptoms to me?”

“Yeah.” Lex began. “I’ve been feeling a lot more tired lately. I’ve been having pretty consistent morning sickness, I don’t throw up everyday but I always feel like I’m about to.”

The doctor nods, taking notes. “And could you tell me when your last period was?”

“Sometime around the end of November.”

“Right. Now if I could get you to hop up here, we’ll take a look at baby.” He patted the hospital bed.

Lex climbed up, lying down before lifting up her shirt to reveal her abdomen. The doctor pulled out the ultrasound machine and began turning it on. Ethan moved over a seat so he could hold her hand as the doctor squirted blue gel onto her stomach.

He put the ultrasound wand on her abdomen, moving it around until he found the right spot.

“There’s baby.” He said pointing at a jellybean shaped blob on the screen.

“Wow.” Ethan whispered, giving Lex’s hand a squeeze.

She turns to him with a smile on her face, squeezing his hand in return before returning her attention to the baby on the monitor.

“See that, Ebbi.” He said, turning Ebony so that she too can see the screen. “That there’s you little brother or sister.”

Ebony moved so she was facing him and patted his face babbling something unintelligible.

“Don’t think she understands what a brother or sister is, babe.” Lex said over her shoulder.

He shrugs. “She’ll figure it out eventually.”

* * *

“When should we tell Hannah?” Lex asked as they climbed into Ethan’s car after the appointment.

“Dunno, did you have an idea?” He asked, starting the engine and driving out of the car park.

“I want to tell her earlier than we did for Ebbi.”

They had waited until Lex was showing before they told Hannah about Ebony. Neither of them was entirely sure how much about babies and pregnancy Hannah knew, as Lex had never really spoken to her about it, so they thought that a visual would help her.

“She was so excited about Ebbi, and I know she’ll be just as excited about this baby.” She continued, placing a hand on her stomach.

“Yeah, I think it’s gonna be harder to explain to Ebbi what’s going on. She’s not quite old enough to understand the whole having a baby thing.” He said.

“I hope she doesn’t freak out or anything when there’s suddenly another person in the apartment.” Lex turns to see Ebony happily watching the world go by outside her car window. “We’re gonna need another car seat too.” She pulls out her phone adding it to the list of things they’ll need to get. Even though they already had a few of the basics, all the extra stuff they still needed to buy was adding up quickly and it was starting to stress Lex out.

Ethan glanced over at her, seeing that she was frowning down at the list.

“Don’t stress, remember.” He said reaching out a hand to give her one-handed massage on her shoulder.

“Saying ‘don’t stress’ doesn’t make me any less stressed.” She leaned back in her seat.

“I know, but try not to worry about all that stuff, let me do that. You just focus on growing us a healthy and happy baby, okay?”

“Okay, I’ll try.” She took his hand of her shoulder and held it on her lap with both of hers.

* * *

It was evening. Ethan was in the kitchen making dinner while Hannah was in her room working on her homework. Lex was on the couch reading Ebony a book about colours.

“Hey, babe, do you know where the oregano is?” Ethan called from the kitchen.

“In the pantry, middle shelf on the left.” She called back.

“I looked there.”

“I guess you didn’t look hard enough then.” She closed the book, and Ebony grabbed it from her hands, slapping it up and down onto the couch.

“Are you sure it couldn’t be anywhere else?”

“Yes, I’m sure.” She get’s up, bringing Ebony with her, sitting the baby on her hip. “Come on, let’s go help your hopeless father.” 

“I heard that!”

Lex goes over to where he stands before the pantry. “Where did I say the oregano was?”

“Middle shelf on the left.”

“And which side is the left side?”

He points at the right hand side of the shelf. “I know which side is left, babe.”

She pats him on the shoulder. “You’re other left, babe.” She moves his outstretched arm to the left side of the cupboard, where he ends up pointing directly at the packet of oregano.

“I’m an idiot.”

“You don’t say?”

“You’re never gonna let me forget this, are you?” He sighed.

“Nope.” She kissed his cheek then took Ebony back to the couch and their book.

She opened it up to a page about the colour blue. One side of the two-page spread was just the colour while the other had a few words on blue. She read them out to Ebony who patted the blue page.

She turned over to the next page, which was on the colour red.

“Mama.” Ebony said pointing at the red page after Lex had read it.

“Yes?”

Ebony looked up before back at the page, pointing at the big space of colour. “Mama.”

“That’s red, Ebbi.”

“Mama.” She says again.

“Mum?” Hannah says walking into the room, notebook and pencil in hand.

“Yeah?”

“How do you spell determine?” She laid herself over the back of the couch.

“D-E-T-E-R-M-I-N-E.” Lex spelt out as Hannah carefully wrote down the letters, sticking her tongue out in concentration. She always did this while writing, because she’d get stressed if the letters weren’t neat and even.

“Thanks.” 

“’Nana.” Ebony said just as Hannah was about to leave. She’d turned a clump of pages to reveal a yellow page. “’Nana.” She said pointing at the yellow part of the page.

“Yes, bananas are yellow.” Lex said.

“’Nana.” She pointed at Hannah who moved over to see what was in the book. Ebony then went back to pointing at the page.

“Is that my colour, Ebbi?” Hannah asked, sitting next to Lex and Ebony.

“’Nana.” she said with a smile.

Hannah turned to the next page that happened to be orange. “Whose colour is this?” She asked. 

Before she’d even finished the question Ebony began crying.

“Sorry Ebbi. Bad colour.” She closed the book in hopes that it would calm her down.

Ebony continued to cry, but less loudly. Lex hugged her too her, rubbing her back.

“It’s okay, Ebbi.” She said.

“Sorry.” Hannah kept muttering. 

Ebony curled into Lex, grabbing a lock of her hair and holding onto it tightly. She rocked her back and forth like she’d always done to help calm down Hannah.

“Dada.” She said between her tears.

“You want dad do you?” Lex asked getting up from the couch. “Maybe he’s right and you are a daddy’s girl.” She went into the kitchen, followed closely by Hannah who kept muttering.

“Hey.” Ethan said, turning around from the stove as he heard the approaching footsteps, seeing the assembly of girls before him. “What’s wrong?” He asked upon seeing Ebony’s tears.

Ebony reached for him, loosening her grip on Lex.

He took her, sitting her on his hip, rubbing her back with one hand while the other held her close.

“She just started crying and wanted you.” Lex said as an explanation.

“Bad colour.” Hannah muttered.

Lex turned so she was facing her. “You okay, Banana?” She asked, moving a few wispy hairs out of her eyes.

“Sorry Ebbi. Bad colour.” She said again.

“It’s not your fault she started crying.” Lex brought Hannah closer to her so that she could wrap her arms around her. 

“Is. Showed her bad colour. Didn’t mean to.” She grabs a fist full of Lex’s shirt in each hand and she returns the embrace.

“It’s okay, Banana.” She kisses the top of her head, rubbing her back. “See, Ebbi’s fine.”

Hannah shifts so that she’s looking up at Ebony in Ethan’s arms who had now stopped crying. She let go of Lex and went over to Ethan, pressing herself close so that she could get a better look at Ebony.

“She’s fine, Split.” He said wrapping his free arm around her.

Ebony rests her head against his shoulder, rubbing her eyes with one hand.

“Okay now, Ebbi?” Hannah asks holding out a hand to her.

Ebony doesn’t take it but instead takes a grip on the neckline of Ethan’s shirt.

“Ebbi okay?” She pokes Ebony’s shoulder lightly.

She shrugs away Hannah’s hand and curls her face into Ethan’s neck.

“She’s okay, Hannah, just leave her alone for a bit.” Ethan said, rubbing her back.

“She’s mad at me.” She said, tears building up in her eyes. “Said sorry, Ebbi.”

“She’s not mad.” Lex said. “Look at her, she’s just tired.” She moves over to join the family huddle that was going on, smoothing back Hannah’s hair.

“Made her upset.”

“She’s a baby, Hannah, she’ll cry at anything.” She rubbed Hannah’s shoulders. “Do you wanna keep working on your homework for a bit?” She asked.

Hannah shook her head pressing her face into Ethan. “Don’t want Ebbi to hate me.” She muttered.

“Don’t be silly, Hannah, she doesn’t hate you.”

“Didn’t want me to touch her though.” Her words were muffled, as her face was stiff pressed into Ethan.

“Well, sometimes you don’t like me or Ethan touching you, does that mean hate us?” Lex asked.

“Don’t hate you.”

“Exactly.” Ethan said. “So why would you think Ebbi hates you?”

“Made her cry.”

“So what? I made you cry when you were a baby.” He said

“You did?” She looks up at him.

“Uh huh.” He nods. “First time I met you, still no quite sure what I did but you just started bawling your eyes out. I think I was just too big and scary. But you don’t hate me now, do you?”

She shook her head.

“Yeah, Ebbi doesn’t hate you, she’s just a bit cranky and tired.”

“Promise?” She asked holding out her pinkie finger to him.

“Promise.” He briefly let go of her so he could wrap his pinkie around hers. As soon as the pinkie promise had been made she went straight back to hugging him tightly.

“Babe, I think the food’s burning.” Lex said having smelt something beginning to overcook.

Ethan turned around as well as he could with the two girls attached to him. He let go of Hannah to move the frying pan off the stove and give the stir-fry a quick stir.

“I think it’s still okay.” He said, tasting it and turning off the stove.

Hannah grabbed his free arm and tried to re-wrap it around her.

“Hang on a sec, Split.” He said. “I’m running out of arms.” He goes to hand Ebony over to Lex, but she starts to cry once she is in her arms.

“It’s okay, Ebbi.” She says softly, bouncing the baby up and down gently.

“Sorry Ebbi.” Hannah mutters. “My fault. My fault.”

“It’s not your fault, Hannah.” Ethan says trying to comfort her.

“Is.” She says, using her hands to block her ears as Ebony continues to cry. “Is.” Everything was overwhelming her. She had made Ebony cry again and she couldn’t make it better. Maybe there was a way. If she wasn’t there than she couldn’t upset Ebony any more. Ethan didn’t have a strong grip on her.

Hannah unwrapped her arms from around Ethan and ran straight at the front door before either he or Lex could react. She got the door open and sprinted down the hallway outside.

“Hannah!” She heard Lex yell after her but she didn’t look back. She kept running.

She could hear footsteps behind her.

“Hannah stop!” Ethan called. He was closer than Lex’s voice had been, he must be the footsteps close behind her. 

She didn’t stop. She kept running. She could be fast when she wanted. She knew the elevator would take too long so she went straight for the stairs.

When she got to the door that led to the staircase she pushed hard to open it. The door scrapped along the ground and made a horrible noise. Hannah immediately placed her hands over her ears as she stepped through to the staircase.

She hadn’t eloped like this in years. She had only done it back in Hatchetfield. She would run away from the trailer if it got too much for her and she needed to get out. Though normally she did it to get away from her elementary school. No one had understood her there and if she had a panic attack they’d call her mum who wouldn’t do anything except yell at her when she got home. So whenever she was feeling panicked or overwhelmed she’d run to the high school where Lex and Ethan were.

She sprinted down the stairs, sometime skipping a step or two to be faster. The apartment was only a few floors up so she was on the ground floor in no time.

“Hannah!” Ethan called out again. His voice was gaining on her. She needed to be faster. There were two doors at the bottom of the stairwell. One led to the lobby of the building, the other to the street outside. 

She went for the one that would take her out onto the street. This door also made a horrible noise when she opened it. She kept her hands firmly planted over her ears as raced out into the street.

It was busy and it was getting dark. The headlights of cars were on, their light overwhelming her. She could feel herself begin to panic as she turned to run down the street.

Before she could take her next step, however, Ethan’s strong arms wrapped around her. Picking her up by her waist.

She kicked her legs out while she cried. She wanted to keep running, her being near was upsetting Ebony. Surely Lex and Ethan understood that.

Ethan carried her back into the stairwell and up to their floor. Lex was standing at the top holding Ebony, a worried look on her face.

“Thank God you’ve got her.” She let out a sigh of relief.

Hannah was still crying. She let go of her grip over her ears and began to push away at Ethan’s arms trying to get him to let go of her. When he didn’t she tried to hit him.

“No hitting, Hannah.” Lex grabbed one of her arms, but she ripped it away instantly. She sighed. “Let’s get her back home.”

As they walked back down the hallway Hannah slowly gave up on trying to escape. She simply hung slightly limp in Ethan’s arms while hot tears streamed down her face.

Once they were back inside the four of them sat down on the couch, Hannah sitting on Ethan’s lap his arms still firmly wrapped around her.

“Wanna tell us what happened?” He asked quietly.

She sniffed. “Too much noise. Wanted to make Ebbi happy.” She turned into Ethan and took a hold of his shirt.

He slackened his grip on her slightly and rubbed her back soothingly.

“And you thought running away would cheer her up?” Lex asked, brushing the hair out of Hannah’s face.

She nodded.

“You know she’s not crying because of you though, Split.” Ethan said. “We pinkie promised.”

“Sorry.” She said, fresh tears falling down her cheeks.

“It’s okay, I forgive you. But no more running off, okay?”

“Okay.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> For some reason this chapter just took me ages to right. I kept getting distracted and zoning out. But it's finished now so yay.
> 
> Also it ended up being super long, like it's taken me days to get it up to 2000 words and then boom I just churn out another 800 in like half an hour. (In case you didn't notice, which you probably didn't, I coincedentally started off this story with a 2000 word chapter average and then my OCD kicked in so now I get stressed if there isn't a ~2000 word average per chapter)


	23. Chapter 23

“I’m worried about Hannah.” Lex said that night as she got into bed.

“Yeah, me too.” Ethan said.

“She hasn’t run off from anyone like that in years, not since we moved here, and she’s never run away from us.”

“Well, to hear her explain it she wasn’t running from us, she was leaving so that Ebbi wouldn’t cry anymore.” He wrapped an arm around her, drawing his fingers up and down her arm.

“Sometimes I wish I could understand how she thinks.” She sighed, moving her head to rest on his shoulder.

“I love how much of a mystery her mind is. Yes, it would be a hell of a lot easier to understand her if we knew how she worked or if she worked like us, but she doesn’t. She sees the world in a completely different way to us and it’s beautiful. And I guess sometimes that means that she thinks the best thing to do is for her to leave.”

“You know I love Hannah just the way she is, and I wouldn’t change her if I had the choice.”

“I know.”

“I just… It would be so much easier to help her if we understood her mind better.” She turns her head so that her face is burrowed into his neck.

“Me too, babe. But the fact is that we’re never gonna know what goes inside her head and she can’t really explain it to us. We’re probably just as much a mystery to her as she is to us.” He kisses the top of her head.

They move into a comfortable silence, only interrupted by the sound of breathing. Ethan has half dozed off when Lex speaks once more.

“Do you think that she’ll elope again?”

“I don’t really know, babe. I don’t think she will, or at least she’ll try not to, but she may end up in a situation where the only thing she can think to do is run.” He murmured, trying to maintain his level of sleepiness.

“I really hope she doesn’t do it again.” Lex remembered all the times back in Hatchetfield when Hannah would run away from her teachers and school and make her way over to Hatchetfield High.   
The first time it had happened was the worst. Hannah had run to Lex’s school, already distressed from whatever had happened in her class to find herself in the main hallway of a high school. No one really saw Hannah as she was just so small and all the kids were miles taller than her, minding their own business as they walked to class. 

Hannah was immediately overcome with the amount of people and the level of noise. She must have been only five or so at the time, and this was before she had her headphones as well. So, she did the only thing she could do after running all that way. She started screaming and crying, a full-blown panic attack in the middle of the hallway.

No one in the near vicinity knew what to do. All the students just starred at her, like she was a car crash, not able to look away as they moved at snail’s pace towards their next classes.

Lex still wasn’t sure how long Hannah had been their panicking in that hallway. Word quickly spread around the campus that a kindy kid had gotten into the school and was screaming the place down. She had immediately thought of Hannah and raced out of her class to try and track her down.

The hallway by the main entrance had been where she’d found her. There were a few teachers there trying to calm her down and figure out who she was and why she was there. But of course, they couldn’t calm her down and she wouldn’t talk to them. At age five, Hannah only had a about twenty words, which she only ever really said in reaction to seeing something or when echoing someone. She didn’t talk in front of people she didn’t know; she only really spoke unprompted in front of Lex and Ethan.

Lex had pushed aside the teachers to get to Hannah, immediately bringing the crying child into her arms and rocking her back and forth until she calmed down.

“Can you tell me what’s wrong, Banana?” She’d asked after a while.

Hannah had shaken her head.

Lex knew she didn’t want to say anything with teachers and students watching. “Is there somewhere private I can take her?” She’d asked the teachers.

One of them had said yes and guided her and Hannah to the sick bay which was currently unoccupied.

“How about now?” She asked, making sure that Hannah was sitting comfortably on her lap. Hannah still had fat tears rolling down her cheeks and Lex carefully wiped them away.

“Bad day.” Hannah said after a long pause. She didn’t say anything more but buried herself into Lex who immediately reciprocated the embrace.

“You’re okay now.” She whispered. “I’ve got you.” She wasn’t quite sure where to go from here. She could hardly bring Hannah back to class with her, nor try and force her back to her own school. She didn’t want to take her home; their mum was always there this time of day and there was no telling what she’d do if she saw them now.

After about ten minutes of Lex contemplating her predicament, Ethan came in. He had been in a different class to Lex for that period, and she guessed that word of the crying five-year-old had only just reached him. She was glad he had figured out it was Hannah.

“Hey, what happened?” He asked taking the seat next to Lex’s. He held out his hand to Hannah seeing if she would be okay with him touching her. She gave her consent in the form of turning and looking at him. He slowly and softly began to rub her back.

“She just said ‘bad day’.” Lex answered kissing the top of Hannah’s head.

“Poor kid.” He moved his face right up close to Hannah’s so that he could be sure she was looking at him. “What’s shakin’ Banana?” He asked her.

“’Nana shake.” She echoed.

“Yeah, banana shake. You’re a Banana shake, aren’t you?”

She gave a slight smile.

“Now, you’re really smart so I know you’ll know the answer to this; What happened when you tickle a Banana shake?” He starts tickling her halfway through his sentence. He always had to be careful when tickling Hannah, always needing to pause to make sure he wasn’t overwhelming her.

She instantly started giggling and smiling. She wasn’t tickled for very long when Ethan stopped, but it had brought her out of her mood. She was now sitting more upright, bouncing up and down in Lex’s lap.

It was only a few weeks after that say that Hannah had been diagnosed with Autism. Lex had known for a few years by that point that Hannah wasn’t like other kids, but neither she nor Ethan had access to the internet so were unable to do any sort of research to figure out why. As soon as Lex was able to get a job she saved every penny she could towards getting Hannah a doctors appointment. It wasn’t much after her mum took most of the money away for rent or alcohol or drugs.

Eventually she’d saved up enough and had gotten Hannah an appointment. And a subsequent follow up.

Ethan had waited for them outside of the doctor’s office for them to come and tell him the results. Hannah was her usual happy self and ran straight over to him to say hello. Lex took her time. She was still digesting the diagnosis, and she didn’t fully know what it would entail.

“What did the doctor say?” He asked as Lex came over to him and Hannah.

“He said she’s autistic.” She told him.

“What does that mean?”

“She sees the world differently to the way we do; her brain works differently. She develops at a different rate. She’s super sensitive to sound and touch and light. That sort of thing. He said she’d need speech therapy and potentially other kinds of therapy too.” She sighs, moving to hug Ethan. “I can’t afford that, Ethan.”

“We’ll figure something out.”

It was good that there was finally a diagnosis for Hannah. They were able to tell her school so that they’d go easier on her, though no one there really understood how to treat Hannah. She still always ran away to their school when she was getting overwhelmed.

When they moved to California, they told her that she didn’t need to run away from school anymore. There were teachers there who had experience with autistic kids and if things were getting too much for her than the school would ring her or Ethan, not their mum back in Hatchetfield. Because of this Hannah hadn’t done any sort of eloping until that day. But to Hannah, she wasn’t doing it so that she could feel better, she did it to help Ebony. Or at least she thought it would help Ebony.

Lex was lying in bed, sifting through all these memories. She couldn’t sleep, she was too worried about the unknowns about Hannah. After an hour or two of not being able to sleep she got up, careful not to disturb Ethan. She crept over to Hannah and Ebony’s room, and slowly pushed open the door.

They were both lying asleep together on Hannah’s bed. Hannah’s arms were carefully wrapped around Ebony who was holding onto a length of Hannah’s hair. It appeared as though neither were upset, which helped to relax Lex a bit.

She returned to her own bed and snuggled up close to Ethan’s side, quickly falling asleep.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> My new laptop finally came! this is the first chapter written on it, so there might be a few mistakes because the shift key and enter key are different shapes to my old laptop and I touch type so I've been getting used to the new positions. But yay for new laptop!


	24. Chapter 24

Hannah was sitting on the couch watching The Greatest Showman. She had always loved that movie, even though some parts were a little oud for her. She didn’t care much for the plot, but she loved all of the dance numbers where she could see all the actors dressed in colourful costumes twirling around on the screen. 

Her favourite song out of the whole movie was A Million Dreams. She would sometimes wonder around the apartment singing it, often just repeating the pre-chorus and chorus over and over again. 

She also loved This Is Me. Hannah knew she was different to the other kids. She knew that they didn’t understand her and that even sometimes Lex and Ethan didn’t understand her. But she was who she was, and she wasn’t going to change that so she could fit in. She was meant to stand out.

Hannah hadn’t tried to run off or do anything similar to that for the few weeks since she had last done so. Lex and Ethan trusted her enough to think that she probably wouldn’t try again, but that still didn’t stop Lex from always keeping the front door locked so it would harder for Hannah to get out, should she make a break for it.

Lex’s main worry was that when the baby was born, the crying would upset Hannah and she’d try to run off again. It hadn’t happened when Ebony was a newborn, but if Hannah happened to accidentally make the baby cry, or think that she caused it, there was no telling if she would be able to stick to agreement of her not running again.

Lex wanted to tell Hannah about the baby so that they could prepare her as much as possible for when the baby cried. Ethan didn’t think she’d react any differently than how she had reacted about Ebony, but things had changed now. He couldn’t help but think Lex was being a little paranoid. She was acting a bit like Hannah had right after the kidnapping. She didn’t like Hannah to be too far away from her when they were out and about.

The two of them went over to where Hannah sat on the couch watching her movie. It was getting later in the evening and Ebony had already been put to bed, and Hannah would need to be asleep soon as well.

“Mind if we pause this?” He asked, grabbing the remote and pausing the movie.

Hannah grumbled but didn’t stop him.

“We need to talk to you about something.” Lex said, taking one of her sister’s hands.

“What?” She asked, tilting her head to the side.

With her other hand Lex took one of Ethan’s who gave it a soft squeeze. “We’re going to have another baby.” She said, watching Hannah’s face closely to gauge her reaction.

Her eyes went wide as she broke into a big grin. “Really?”

“Yes, really.”

“Webby said good thing happening.” She said, bouncing in her seat. “Does Ebbi know?”

“Well.” Ethan began. “She knows, but she’d too young to actually understand, hopefully she gets it a bit more before the baby is born, otherwise she’s going to be very confused.”

Hannah nods slowly. “Boy baby or girl baby?”

“We don’t know yet.” Lex answered.

“We might not know until it’s born, like with Ebbi.” Ethan added.

She nodded again. “When will the baby be born?”

“Sometime around the middle of August.”

“For your birthday?” She turns to Lex.

“It better not be born on my birthday.” She said with a smile.

“Yeah, how would I be able to compete with a baby in terms of birthday presents.” He said, kissing her cheek.

“Well, without you there’d be no baby.” She says turning to face them.

“But you’re the one doing all the hard work, so it’s not like I can claim the baby is my present to you.”

Lex shrugs. “I still say that without you there wouldn’t be any baby.” 

“How does that work?” Hannah asked. 

They’d both seemingly forgotten that she was still there, both turning to face her with slightly red faces.

“Well, uh, you know that all babies have dad’s, right?” Lex began, trying to figure out what to tell Hannah without going into the actual truth of the matter.

“But you don’t have a dad. And I didn’t have a dad before Ethan.”

“We do have dads; we just don’t know who they are.” She tried to explain. She’d never met her dad and hadn’t met Hannah’s either. There was a possibility that they both had the same dad, but Lex doubted any man would want to have sex with her mother twice.

“How come we don’t know who they are?”

“They just didn’t hang around. They probably didn’t like mum.”

“Didn’t they love us?” Hannah looked up at Lex with tear filled eyes.

She immediately brings her into a hug. “I’m sure they would love us if they knew about us.” She honestly had no idea if the men who fathered them with give two shits about them, but she needed to comfort Hannah, and it’s not like they were ever going to meet the guys.

“How come they didn’t know about us? Ethan knows about the new baby.”

“That’s because Lex told me.” He said, rubbing her shoulder.

“How come Lexi knew and you didn’t?” She looked between the two, trying to figure it out.

“Because I’ve got the baby inside me, I get all these symptoms as a side effect of the baby being there, that’s how I found out about the baby and then I told Ethan.” Lex said.

Hannah nodded seeming to understand this, and remembering Lex being pregnant last time. “But how did the baby get there in the first place? And how was Ethan involved?”

“I think that’s enough questions for tonight.” Lex said quickly, standing up and bringing Hannah with her.

“But.”

“No buts, it’s getting late.” She said, gently pushing Hannah in the direction of her bedroom.

She comes back five minutes later after tucking in Hannah and slumps down on the couch, leaning into Ethan.

“Don’t want to tell her about the birds and the bees yet?” He asked kissing the top of her head.

“No, I do not.”

“Should probably tell her soon though, she is ten now.” He said beginning to run his fingers up and down her arm.

“I think she’ll be fine for a while longer.” She sighs into him. “Honestly I’m surprised she didn’t ask all this when I was pregnant with Ebbi.”

“Yeah, me too. But she’s got to know sometime, right?”

“Just not yet, though.”

“You don’t want her to grow up, do you?” He asked, taking her hand and giving it a squeeze.

She sighs again. “In a way Hannah was the first kid I had. I want her to stay my baby forever, but I know that can’t happen. She has to grow up someday. I just want her to be a kid for as long as possible.” She looked up at him. “Does that make sense?”

He nods. “I feel the same way.” Ethan had been a part of their lives for most of Hannah’s life. At first, he hadn’t really done much to help raise her, but when he and Lex started dating, he took on the responsibility, and helped out as much as he could. One of the biggest reasons for them moving out of Hatchetfield was so that Hannah could have a better life. And here she was, living the best life she can in a home full of people who love her and care about her. And she was growing up.

“We’re getting old, Ethan.” She says.

“Yeah, but like, we’re only twenty.”

“Well I feel at least thirty.” She stretched out her arms before wrapping them around him.

He chuckles. “I guess we don’t really do the things typical twenty-year-old’s do. We don’t go out late partying or go to college.”

“Nope, kinda hard to do that stuff when you’ve got two and a half kids.”

“True.” He says, kissing her cheek.

She turned her head so she could properly kiss him, moving her legs so that they lay across his lap. Once the kiss had ended she rested her head against his shoulder, closing her eyes and breathing him in.

He rests his head on top of hers. “You’re looking pretty tired, babe, do you wanna head to bed?” He asks softly, running his hands up and down her sides.

She shakes her head. “I just got comfy.” She mumbles, a smile on her face.

“Won’t you be comfier in bed?”

“No.” She wriggles herself in closer to him. 

“You sure?”

“Let me enjoy being comfortable while I still can, Ethan.”

“Alright, but I’m telling you now you’re gonna fall asleep on top of me.”

“That sounds more like a you problem.” She says, letting out a relaxed sigh, enjoying being cuddled up on the couch.

“You won’t be happy if I end up waking you up.”

“Better not let that happen then.” She opens her eyes to see him lightly shake his head before she closes them again. After a few moments of sitting like this she lets out an annoyed groan.

“What’s wrong?” He asks.

“I’m really craving cheese, but I don’t want to move.”

“I can go get you some.” He went to get up, but she stopped him.

“You can’t move either, otherwise the whole being comfortable thing is ruined.”

“What do you want to do then?”

She groans again, tilting her head back. “I don’t know.” She moves her head back to his shoulder. “Like, I’m in a really comfy spot right now and I don’t want to move, but oh man I could go for some cheese right now. That shredded mozzarella we’ve got in the freezer, that would really hit the spot.”

“I did say that I could go get it for you.”

“But you’re not allowed to move. We have to stay in this exact position until I either get fed up with the craving or fall asleep.” She tells him, closing her eyes again to try and pursue the sleep route.

“This is what it’s going to be like for the next seven months isn’t it?” He said, more to himself than to Lex, but she still heard him.

“You’re the one who wanted more kids.” She pokes his chest. 

“You wanted more too.”

“I said I wouldn’t mind more once Ebbi was a bit older, but oh no, you just couldn’t keep it in your pants!”

“Keep what in his pants?”

“Hannah!” Lex looks over Ethan’s shoulder to see her little sister standing behind the couch, her favourite stuffed spider toy in one arm. “What are you doing up?”

“Had a question.”

“What’s your question?”

“Will Ebbi still like me when the baby comes? Because the baby will be her real brother or sister and I’m not her real sister.” She asked shyly.

“Ebbi loves you, Hannah, that’s not going to change. She doesn’t even realise that you’re not her real sister.” Lex says.

Hannah thinks this through for a moment before nodding. “Webby agrees.” She says.

“Good, now it’s getting late you should go back to sleep.”

She nods. “Na-night.” She says before meandering back to bed.

“Two close calls in one night.” Ethan says after Hannah had shut the door to her room. 

“Yep.” She goes back to resting her head on his shoulder. “Damn, should’ve gotten her to bring me cheese while she was here.”

“Was a missed opportunity, babe.”

“Oh well, I think I’m getting over the craving anyway.” She closed her eyes. “Time for sleep I guess.”

“Okay, night babe, I love you.” He kissed the top of her head.

“Love you too.” She mumbled back, now thoroughly on her way to sleep.

Ethan waited for a little while after she had fallen asleep to risk moving her to their bed. He didn’t want to chance waking her, and luckily he didn’t as he climbed under the covers next to her, carefully pulling her close before falling asleep himself.


	25. Chapter 25

> Alexandra, I want you to understand why I did what I did. I did for the love of my daughter, surely you understand that. You have a child of your own, I know you would do anything for her. I didn’t want to lose my daughter again, so I helped her. Wouldn’t you do the same for your daughter?  
> Sincerely, your grandmother Veronica Foster.

> I wouldn’t kidnap innocent children.

Lex angrily looked down at her phone, glaring at what her grandmother had written. She claimed to kidnap the girls out of love for her daughter, wanting Lex to understand that because of the love she has for Hannah and Ebony. Veronica, however, seems to keep missing the point that she took Lex’s children away from her.

> How many times must I apologise for you to start listening to me, Alexandra?  
> Sincerely, your grandmother Veronica Foster.

> You haven’t apologised though. You haven’t apologised to Hannah or Ebony or Ethan. You said sorry once for causing me pain, but you’ve never thought once about the pain you caused them. You have no idea how your actions have affected us. So no, I’m not going to listen to someone so ignorant to the repercussions of their actions.

She put her phone back down and went out into the living room where Ebony was using the couch to help herself stand. She get to her feet then bob on her knees a bit then sit back down giggling before repeating the process. She looked up when she saw Lex and reached her arms out for her.

“Mama.”

Lex sat down on the couch next to where Ebony had been practicing her standing. “Hello Ebbi, you tried walking yet?”

Ebony smiled and used Lex’s leg as support to stand up once more. She managed to get balanced enough to let go and play drums on her leg. Lex kept a hand hovering behind her in case she fell.

Normally at this time of day they would be off picking Hannah up from school, but it was raining so Ethan was going to drive her. It was only lightly sprinkling, but it had been heavier earlier and besides, any amount of rain was a big deal to Hannah. They should be back soon. It wasn’t a very long drive from the school.

Lex continued to sit on the couch with Ebony drumming on her leg, thinking about what Veronica had been saying to her. She didn’t know why she just hadn’t blocked her number. Maybe part of her deep down wanted to get to know her, but she knew that would never happen. She was happy with her little family of four and a half. She was only going to add to that number when she and Ethan had more children.

She had found herself thinking about that every now and then. She’d wondered how many children they’d have. What would they look like? What would their names be? The one thing she did know was that they were definitely going to have several years between this baby and the next. Though the whole waiting thing hadn’t worked out so well for them last time. The fact that neither of their babies had been planned probably went to show how bad they were at using protection. But it didn’t matter because they loved their children and they were going to have much better childhoods than she’d had.

She sighed, running a hand over Ebony’s brown curls.

It was then that the front door was open and in walked Ethan carrying Hannah who was covered by her raincoat.

“Dada!” Ebony said, turning to see him.

“Ebbi!” He said with the same level of enthusiasm. 

Hannah, who normally would have found this funny, simply continued to hang onto him, resting her head on his shoulder.

Ethan began moving further into the living room to properly greet Ebony and Lex when Ebony met him part way across the floor. Not thinking, he scooped her up with his free arm. He looked at her then did a double take.

“Hang on.” He said. “Did you just..?”

“I think she did.” Lex said, rather surprised herself and walked over to Ethan and the girls. “Well done, Ebbi.”

“See, Banana, I told you it was a good day.” He hoisted her a little higher on his hip.

“Huh?”

“Ebbi just took her first steps.” He said.

“Missed it?” She said, looking up from his shoulder with a sad expression on her face.

“Don’t worry, you’ll get to see her do it again.” He reassured her.

She nodded slowly, still looking sad before she rested her head on his shoulder once again.

“What’s wrong, Banana?” Lex asked rubbing Hannah’s back. She was pretty sure her mood had something to do with the rain, though it could easily be something else.

“Bad day.” She muttered into Ethan’s shoulder.

Lex looked at him to see if he had any further explanation.

“One of the kids in her class jumped in a puddle and she got splashed.” He explained.

“I’m sorry.” She says to Hannah. “How are you feeling now?”

Hannah shook her head and clung on tighter to Ethan as shivers ran through her body.

“Do you know how long ago this happened?” She asked him.

He shrugged. “Sometime in the middle of the day I think.” 

“No wonder she’s so cold.” She brushed a few strands of hair out of Hannah’s face. “Let’s get you warmed up, okay?”

She nods into Ethan’s shoulder.

He passes Ebony over to Lex, giving her a kiss on the cheek before taking Hannah into her room to get changed. 

“Let’s get this coat off, huh?” He said, unwrapping her arms from around him so he could take off her raincoat. When he pulled off the coat, he found that the clothes beneath were soaked through. “No wonder you’re so cold, you’re soaked through, Banana.”

She nodded, tears building in her eyes and he now saw that her lips were starting to turn blue as well. He wondered how she could’ve gotten so wet from the splash of a puddle. He knew there was no chance that she would’ve been standing out in the rain long enough to get so wet either.

“Let’s get you into some dry clothes.” He quickly got her changed into her pyjamas and wrapped her in a blanket. He held her close in hopes of warming her up.  
She was still shivering when he brought her back out into the living room.

“You feeling any better, Banana?” Lex asked, rubbing one of Hannah’s arms to try and put some more warmth into them.  
She didn’t say anything but just looked at Lex with a sad expression on her face.

“Her lips are blue, Ethan.” She said, feeling the cold skin of Hannah’s face.

“’Nana.” Ebony said, reaching from her place in Lex’s arms to pat Hannah’s head.

“Yeah, her clothes were soaked through.” He says.

“Didn’t you say she only got splashed?”

“That’s what her teacher told me, but she shouldn’t have gotten that wet from just a splash, especially since it was supposedly hours ago.” He ran a hand through his hair, not quite sure what to do.

Lex nods in agreement. “Whatever happened, the important thing now is to get her warm. Get her under some more blankets, I’ll make her a hot water bottle.”

He nods and goes and grabs some of the spare blankets that lived in Hannah’s wardrobe. He takes them back to the couch, sitting down with Hannah still clinging to him he lays the blankets on top of her.

Lex soon joined them with Ebony and the hot water bottle. She passed it over to Ethan who tucked it under the blankets with Hannah.

“Do you think you can tell us what happened, Banana?” She asked, untying Hannah’s braids and combing the hair out with her fingers.

The tears that had been building in her eyes finally fell down her cheeks, Lex wiping them away as soon as the fell. “Pushed.” She manages to whisper into Ethan’s shoulder, rubbing her cheek against the soft fabric of his shirt.

“Someone pushed you?”

She nods, then mutters something too quiet to make out.

“Could you say that again?” Lex askes, shifting herself a bit closer.

Hannah thinks about it for a moment before lifting her head enough to whisper whatever she’d said into Ethan’s ear.

“Crazy goes in puddle.” He says, repeating out loud what Hannah had whispered to him. He looks down at her. “Someone said that to you?”

She nods and he holds her tighter.

“I’m so sorry, Banana.” He kisses the top of her head, keeping his arms firmly around her. He always hated it when kids were mean to Hannah because she was different. It had happened a lot back in Hatchetfield, but this was the first time he’d heard of it happening since they moved to California.

“Has this been happening a lot?” Lex asked.

Hannah just shrugged and tried to bury herself deeper in Ethan. She seemed to be warming up, no longer shivering and her lips had returned to their normal colour. She still didn’t feel good though. She never felt good when people were mean to her. She didn’t want to relive the taller boy in her class calling her crazy and shoving her in a puddle and then when she freaked out, told the teacher she was accidentally splashed. She hadn’t had the words to correct him. She was too panicked, but the teacher had told her she was fine and sent her back to class. She’d wanted them to call Lex or Ethan. But they hadn’t so by the time it was the end of the day she was still upset and freezing cold to boot.

She didn’t want to expand on what had happened and they didn’t try to force it out of her. She just kept her head on Ethan’s shoulder and drifted off to sleep, a lot warmer than she had been before.

“Why didn’t the school call us?” Lex asked, speaking softly so that she didn’t disturb Hannah. “Getting that wet and cold would’ve given her a panic attack.”

He shrugged. “Maybe she internalised it enough that they didn’t realise. I don’t think her teacher knew she was pushed. Whoever did it probably made up some story to avoid getting in trouble.”

She nodded, letting out a sigh. “I hope she’s okay.”

“She will be.” He wraps an arm around Lex, while still holding Hannah close.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> We did it! We hit 50,000 words!


	26. Chapter 26

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> There's a little bit of violence at the beginning so if you don't want to read it just skip the italicised part.

_She was in the trailer. Hannah and Ebony were playing together on the couch, oblivious to the danger they were in as her mother entered the small room._

_“Fucking piece of shit!” She yelled, punching Lex in the stomach and shoving her aside, making a beeline towards the two young girls._

_“No! Leave them alone!” Lex tried to grab her mum to stop her advancement._

_“You dare speak to me!” She turns and kicks her hard, sending her sprawling to the ground. “Know your fucking place!” She turns back to the children. She grabs Ebony and throws her aside like she’s nothing more than a rag doll. There was a sickening crack as her head connected with the floor._

_“No!” She screams. She tries to get to her daughter but is held back by someone she can’t see._

_Lesley then grabs Hannah by her throat, holding her up as if she weighed nothing. She didn’t fight or struggle at all, her face blank as her skin turned blue._

_“Put her down!”_

_She throws Hannah aside as well. “That spawn of yours and your pet retard are gone. Maybe if you’d learned to shut your fucking mouth they’d still be here.” She walked slowly towards Lex, drawing out a knife she hadn’t had before. “It’s time you learnt your fucking lesson.”_

_Lex couldn’t get up. She was stuck there on the floor at her mother’s mercy. She couldn’t fight her off as she came closer, the blade of the knife glinting menacingly. She knew what that knife was going to do._

_“No, please don’t.” She begged, managing to hug her knees to her chest creating a barrier between her mother and her unborn child._

_“Pathetic fucking whinger. Why don’t you grow a fucking backbone?” Lesley grabbed her and threw her to the ground once more. Ripping her arms and legs away from her stomach._

_Lex cried and screamed, helpless to stop her as her mother brought up the knife and sunk it into her stomach, cutting out the unborn child within._

“Lex! Lex, wake up!”

She woke up to Ethan shaking her and a scream dying in her throat. She blinked, sitting up, trying to erase the memory of her nightmare but failing. She put a hand to her stomach, as far as she could tell the baby was still in there.

“Hey, are you okay?” He asked, wiping tears off of her cheeks that she didn’t know were there.

“I…” She took a moment to catch her breath. “I need to check on the girls.” She pulled back the covers with trembling fingers and stood up. Her legs were a little wobbly, but she made it out the door and into the girls’ bedroom. She carefully pushed the door open and stepped inside.

First, she went and checked Ebony, who was peacefully sleeping in her cot. She moved over to Hannah’s bed, where she too was asleep, one arm holding her stuffed spider.

Lex felt herself breathe easier knowing that they were all okay. She turned to leave, finding Ethan waiting for her in the doorway. She walks straight to him and wraps her arms around him, he immediately does the same.

“It was just a dream, babe.” He whispers, kissing the top of her head.

“A terrible dream.”

* * *

When it came to his birthday, Ethan didn’t want a fuss. He didn’t particularly want anything in terms of presents. Lex always managed to figure out how to celebrate without making it a big deal, which he very much appreciated.

This morning she’d woken him up with a kiss and presented him with breakfast in bed. Hannah had drawn him a picture which had a birthday message written on it. He’d stuck it in his wallet, replacing last year’s drawing which he moved into a box in his and Lex’s wardrobe. Hannah had always drawn him a picture for his birthday ever since she was old enough to draw and he kept every one of them. It was great to see how she’d improved over the years.

He spent the majority of the day at work, but that was okay, because he knew Lex was planning something for when he got home. He knew she’d want to make up for her being so grumpy last year, due to her being nine months pregnant.

His assumptions proved correct as he came home that night. He opened the door to find the lights had been switched off and replaced with fairy lights and a few candles. A picnic had been set up in the middle of the living room floor, Lex standing next to it.

“How was your day?” She asked, walking over to him.

“Pretty average.” He said. “I see you’ve been busy.” He nods towards the set up in the living room.

She shrugs. “Hannah helped. She’s really good and knowing the best place for the lights to be. Maybe she’ll be a lighting designer when she grows up.”

“Who knows. Where are the girls anyway?” He had noticed that neither had come to greet him.

“They’re in their room. Hannah is under orders not to come out or let Ebony out unless it’s an emergency or bedtime. So, until then, it’s just the two of us, because I realised, we haven’t actually gotten to go on a date since we moved here because we don’t have anyone to babysit. We’re still technically not going out on a date, but I think it’s the closest to one as we can get. So, happy birthday, babe.” She gives him a kiss, which he instantly reciprocates.

“Wow, I’m impressed you were able to set all this up. It looks great.” He smiles. Down at her.

“I did also get you a present, well, two kind of.” She steps away from him and towards the picnic.

“I told you not to get me anything.”

“It’s your twenty-first, I had to get you at least something.” She pulls out a rectangular parcel, handing it to him.

He unwraps it to find a few new video games for his computer. “Thanks, babe.” He kisses her cheek.

“Come sit, I’m starving.” She pulled him to the ground and began uncovering two plates covered in food.

He noticed a few unusual food combinations on Lex’s plate. “Craving?” He asked, gesturing at the piece of bread covered in jam with a piece of salami on top.

“Hey, don’t judge me. Your kid has weird tastes in food.” She took a bite as he too began to dig in. “It’s actually really good, wanna try some?” She held it out for him.

“I think I’m good, thanks.”

She shrugs. “Your loss.”

About halfway through the meal Lex ducks off into the kitchen, returning with a bottle of wine. She sees that he’s about to protest and speaks before he has the chance.

“As I stated earlier, it’s your twenty-first and you are going to have your first legal drink.” She pours him a glass and hands it to him.

“It’s not technically a legal drink because you would’ve bought it illegally.”

“Shush, the drinking part is legal.”

He takes a sip, smiling at her.

“How does it taste?” She said, moving so she can lean against him.

“Pretty much the same as it would’ve being underage.” He wraps an arm around her. “But it is very much appreciated.”

They continue to chat and eat for the next hour until Hannah emerged from her room. She went straight over to Lex and whispered in her ear.

She stood up. “Okay, I’ll be back in a sec, Hannah, keep him distracted.”

“How was school, Banana?” He asked.

“Good.” She replied, sitting down opposite Ethan.

“Do anything exciting?”

“Building cars in science.”

“They’re having ten-year-olds building cars?”

She giggled. “Carboard cars.”

“Oh, see that makes a lot more sense.” He said smiling.

She nods, running her hands over the rough fabric of the picnic blanket.

“Lex said you helped set up the lights, they look really good.”

She nods again, not moving her attention away from the blanket. “Found good spots.”

Lex returns and sits back down. “Thanks, Banana, you can head back to your room now. Come back out when it’s bedtime, okay?”

She stands up and gives him a hug. “Happy birthday, daddy.” She whispers before returning to her room.

“Everything good?” He asks, pulling Lex so that she was leaning against him once more with his arm wrapped around her.

“Yeah, Ebbi knocked over a cup of water is all.” She says, resting her head on his shoulder.

“I can see how that could count as an emergency.” He said, remembering the rules Lex had told Hannah to follow.

She hums her agreement. “Did you have a good day, babe?”

“I had a great day, and an even better evening.” He tilts her chin up and gives her a lingering kiss.

“I’m glad.”

* * *

It was Ebony’s first birthday, and while it was a big milestone for the little girl, they had decided not to go too crazy about it. They weren’t going to throw her a big party or anything, besides they didn’t really have anyone to invite and it wasn’t like Ebony was going to remember it.

Lex and Ethan had gotten her a few presents, mainly clothes, books and a few toys. Hannah had of course drawn her a picture and blue-tacked it to the wall above her cot.

Ebony seemed to be enjoying her birthday, loving all the attention. She had no idea what was going on but would happily wobble from person to person saying nonsense.

“I can’t believe she’s a year old already.” Lex said, watching as Hannah helped Ebony walk around the room.

“Yeah, me neither. To think exactly one year ago we were in the hospital and she was so small.” Ethan said. It was crazy thinking that an entire year had passed since they had officially become parents, and in a few months more they’d have another kid. They’d only been in California for two years and their lives had changed so much for the better since. They were getting to live a life that they probably never would have been able to back in Hatchetfield.

“To think it won’t be much longer until we’re back there.” She puts a hand on her stomach. She’d only just started to show, there now being a slight roundness to her stomach, though to anyone who didn’t know she was pregnant it just looked like she’d just eaten a large meal.

He moves his hand to join hers. “I can’t wait.”

“Things are gonna get pretty crazy with two small kids.”

“Yeah but think of it like preparation for if we ever have twins in the future.”

“No way am I ever going to have twins. One baby at a time, thank you.” She said.

“I don’t think that that’s something you can just decide, babe.”

“Well, too bad, I’ve decided. Any and all future children we have will be born one at a time.”

“Alright, alright, we won’t have twins.” He smiled, kissing her cheek.

“Glad we came to an agreement.” She said.

With Hannah’s help, Ebony walked over to them and flopped down on top of Lex.

“Mama.” She said.

Lex lifted her so she was upright again. “Hey birthday girl, you having fun?”

She just giggled and bounced up and down on her knees.


	27. Chapter 27

_They were in a court room. She was with Hannah between her and Ethan each holding one of her hands with Ebony on his lap._

_Sitting on the opposing side of the room sat her mother, glaring daggers at her. She could imagine all the insults that must be flowing through the vile woman’s mind. She looked away, trying to clear her mind as she began to see flashbacks of her childhood._

_She couldn’t think of that now. She needed to keep Hannah and Ebony safe._

_She knew that her mother wouldn’t be able to attack them here, but it didn’t stop the fear of it happening entering her mind. She thought back to all the times during her life in Hatchetfield that she thought that just for a moment she was safe, only for that dream of hope to crumble away with her mother breaking down whatever door stood between them._

_The only place in Hatchetfield she’d felt truly safe was at Ethan’s house, though it wasn’t often she was able to be there. She needed to work, she needed to go to school, she needed to make sure Hannah was okay._

_“It’s gonna be okay.” Ethan said, clearly having read the thoughts that ran through her mind. “She can’t hurt you or the girls here.”_

_“She’ll find a way.” Lex replied._

_Hannah had remained silent the entire time they had been in that room, doing nothing but stare straight ahead at the wall in front of her. She was going to have to go up on the stand soon. She was going to be asked questions. She was going to have to face her mother, and Lex wouldn’t be able to hold her hand for it. She wouldn’t be able to keep her safe._

_When Hannah did go up there, she was asked a lot of questions. She only answered them with one word or a nod or shake of her head. It seemed these answers were sufficient, and they let her go return to her seat between Lex and Ethan._

_Next was their mother’s turn. Just seeing her cause Lex to feel the ghost of every bruise and cut she’d ever received from her mother. She wouldn’t look away though, she wouldn’t give her the satisfaction._

_She worked hard on keeping her breathing even as her mother spoke lie upon lie. She tried to block out the words, they weren’t important. Her family was what was important and she’d do anything to keep them safe._

_Her mother was getting angrier, her words were getting louder and harder to block out as she began to yell._

_Ethan grabbed her hand, looking over to make sure she was okay. Lex didn’t know if she was okay, but the girls were and that’s what mattered._

_Her mother was causing a commotion, ignoring the judge’s gavel. Hannah was covering her ears with her hands, trying to block out the noise. Policemen were trying to restrain her mother but were failing._

_Somehow her mother had gotten her hands on a gun, she didn’t know how. The gun was loaded and pointed straight at Lex. She couldn’t move; couldn’t breathe. There was nothing she could do to stop the bullet as it left the barrel and imbedded itself in her stomach._

* * *

She’d woken up with a bad feeling. She had the awful sense that something about this day would be bad. Very bad. There was no basis for this feeling, but she had it regardless. 

She kept going back to the nightmare she’d had about her mum. Did her mum have something to do with the uneasy feeling that lingered over her? She doubted it was but kept the thought in the back of her mind, just in case.

She went about getting breakfast as normal, though something felt off.

“Hey, are you okay?” Ethan asked. 

“Hmm?” She looked up from where she was cutting up a banana for Ebony.

“You seem kinda off, are you okay?”

“Yeah, I’m fine. Just have a bad feeling. I don’t know, but it’s probably nothing.” She shrugged, going back to what she was doing.

“You’re not stressing out about anything are you?”

“No. Well at least I don’t think I am. Just one of those days, I guess.”

He nods. “Try to take it easy today.” He kisses the side of her head. “I’m gonna go wake up Hannah.”

Hannah had been home the last few days with a bad cold, and she wasn’t having the best of times. Being sick made her frustrated and easily annoyed. Being overly sensitive, the simple act of coughing or blowing her nose always gave her a monster headache even if she had her headphones on.

When Ethan went into her room he found she was already awake, though still lay curled up in bed. He sat on the edge of the bed and ran his fingers through her tangled hair.

“How’re you feeling today, Split?” He asked.

She shrugged, pulling the blanket tighter around her.

“Worse or better than yesterday?”

She held up her thumb and forefinger, holding them about a centimetre apart.

“Little bit better?”

She nodded. She’d been communicating like this for the duration of her cold thus far as her throat had been too sore for her to speak comfortably. She never spoke much on the best of days, but when it hurt to say even the smallest and easiest of words, she’d turn off her vocal cords completely. She did know basic sign language, as did Lex and Ethan, but she mostly made up her own little gestures for things.

“Want me to bring you anything?”

She mimed holding up a spoon and licking something off of it. Her signal for honey.

“Not sure if Lex will let you have it in bed, but I’ll see what I can do.” He kissed her forehead and left her room to go back to the kitchen.

“How’s she feeling?” Lex asked.

“Little better than yesterday.” He said going to the pantry and pulling out the honey jar. He wiped down its’ surface with a wet cloth, making sure to get the inside of the rim as well so that there was minimal chance that Hannah would touch any of the sticky substance. While she enjoyed the taste of honey, Hannah could not stand getting it on any part of her skin. He didn’t blame her, he wasn’t a big fan of sticky things either, but she would get panicked if it was on her for too long. 

“Is she wanting that in bed?” She asked, noticing that he was preparing the jar for her.

“Yeah.”

She threw a tea towel at him. “Make sure this is covering her. And tell her not to get any on her sheets.”

He saluted her, grabbed a spoon and went back to Hannah.

Seeing him enter with the honey, she sat up, resting her back against her pillows, signing thank you to him.

“No worries, Banana.” He drapes the tea towel across her lap and hands her the jar and spoon. “You’ve got to be careful, okay? You’re not allowed to get any on your sheets.”

She nodded and took out a spoonful of honey, licking it like a lollypop.

“I’ll see you when I get home.” He kisses the top of her head.

She gives him a hug before letting him leave the room.

Ethan went back out to the kitchen where Lex and Ebony were. Ebony was sitting on top of the kitchen bench, grabbing slices of banana and eating them.

“I’m off, I’ll see you tonight.” He said, giving Lex a kiss.

“Bye, love you.”

“Love you too.” He then kissed the top of Ebony’s head. “Bye Ebbi, love you.”

“Bye-bye.” She waves at him as he makes his way over to the door.

“Remember to take it easy, babe.” He calls over his shoulder as he leaves.

After Ebony had finished eating her breakfast, Lex decided to go check how Hannah was doing. She scooped Ebony off of the bench and onto her hip. She wriggled and complained, so she put her down on the ground.

“You want to walk, do you?” She asked. “Come on then.” She took her daughter’s hands in her own and together they walked over to where Hannah was, still sitting in bed. 

She’d finished with the honey and had sat it on her bedside table and now appeared to be talking silently to Webby. She turned when she noticed that Lex had come in.

Immediately she jumped out of bed and ran over to her, wrapping her arms around her middle and pressing her face into Lex’s slight baby bump.

“Hey, Banana.” She said, having now let go of Ebony’s hands so that she could go and play with her toys.

Hannah stepped back and signed ‘bad day’ to her.

“Bad day? Ethan said you were feeling a little better.”

She shook her head, pointing at Lex before repeating the sign.

“I’m going to have a bad day?” It seemed that the bad feeling she had was being reinforced by Hannah. 

She nodded, before hugging her once more.

* * *

It was midday and so far nothing out of the ordinary had happened, certainly nothing bad. The feeling continued to linger, however.

Throughout the morning, Hannah seemed to feel more and more like herself. She’d still cough occasionally and still wasn’t speaking verbally, but she was happy to sit and play with Ebony rather than spend all day in bed or on the couch. Though whenever Lex entered the room she’d go over to her and give her a hug, always ending it by patting the baby bump.

Lex found it a bit strange but didn’t think much more of it. Hannah often did things that seemed strange to her, though she knew they made sense to Hannah. Her mind was a mystery, even more so when she wasn’t speaking.

As time went by, the bad feeling seemed to get worse. The sense of impending doom appeared to be drawing closer and Lex was worried about what it could be. She knew Ethan had told her to take it easy, but she could only do that so much with two kids to look after as well as a constant feeling of dread.

Around lunchtime her stomach cramped up. She rubbed it, trying to ease the tense muscles. She didn’t think too much into it, though the feeling of dread was creeping at the back of her mind.

She cramped up again when she went to the bathroom not long after. The bad feeling came to the forefront of her mind, especially when she saw blood in the toilet bowl. Shakily, she went over to the sink, washing her hands. When she looked in the mirror, she saw the fear on her face, which grew as she cramped for a third time. This was bad. Very bad.

“Hannah!” She called, trying to keep her breathing even as it dawned on her what could be happening.

Hannah soon appeared in the doorway.

“Can you go to the kitchen and grab my phone for me?” She didn’t want to risk moving. Didn’t want to chance making things worse.

Hannah already seemed to know what was happening, looking sadly at Lex before nodding and running off. 

She soon returned, phone in hand and gave it to Lex.

She fumbled in unlocking her phone. She presses the contact labelled ‘Ethan’ and holds the phone to her ear as it begins to ring. She griped the bathroom sink, praying that he isn’t busy and picks up.

Just as the phone is about to ring out he picks up. She lets out a small sigh of relief, she didn’t know what she would’ve done if he hadn’t answered.

“Hey, babe. Everything okay?” He asked.

“Ethan!” She lets out half a sob. “Something’s wrong with the baby.”


	28. Chapter 28

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> For something I have been planning for weeks, this was surprisingly hard to write.
> 
> Also Yay, over a 1000 hits. I'm not totally sure what that means, but it's a big number.

“Okay, okay.” Ethan said over the phone. “Try and stay calm. Stay where you are, I’m on my way.”

“Hurry, Ethan.” She had a white-knuckled grip on the bathroom sink, tears falling down her cheeks. She was trying and failing to get her breathing under control.

“I will, I promise. I’ll be there as soon as I can. Can you get Hannah to get ready to leave for the hospital as soon as I get there?”

“Okay.” She looked to Hannah who had been standing next to her since she’d returned with the phone.

She nods, having heard Ethan speak and ran off to get ready.

He stayed on the line with Lex the entire time he was driving home, trying to calm her down while internally panicking himself. He hung up as he reached the apartment, quickly opening the door.

Hannah was standing there ready to go with a backpack and Ebony. She pointed him in the direction of the bathroom where Lex was, and he raced over there.

He found her still standing at the sink, holding onto it with one hand. The other was still clutching her phone but was wrapped around her stomach. He tried to ignore the drops of blood that were on the floor beneath her.

He went straight over to her, picking her up into his arms and headed back out into the living room where Hannah and Ebony were.

“We gotta go, Banana.” He said as he headed towards the car, Hannah following behind him.

She was able to hold Ebony with one arm, using the other to open the car passenger door so Ethan could put down Lex before going into the backseat, strapping in herself and Ebony while Ethan went around to the driver’s side and started the engine.

He quickly got them out onto the main road heading straight towards the hospital. Lex had a firm hold on one of his hands. Every now and then he’d run his thumb over her knuckles, hoping the action might help keep her calm.

He glanced in the review to see the two girls. Ebony was happily oblivious to what was going on while Hannah sat stoically, seeming to have a greater understanding of what was happening than he had anticipated.

“Hannah,” He said. “When we get to the hospital, you’re going to have to take care of Ebony for a while. I don’t know how long we’ll be there, but you’re gonna have to be really brave and make sure you and Ebbi are okay. Do you think you can do that?”

She nodded.

He really hoped that Hannah would be okay. He knew she should be able to just hang out in the kids room like she did when Ebony was born, but it would be more of a challenge for her to babysit Ebony. Hopefully she didn’t end up crying too loudly and giving Hannah a panic attack. Or that she just didn’t have a panic attack in general. There were going to be other people there and presumably a fair bit of noise, but she had her headphones so she should be okay. He was glad that she just happened to be home that day, otherwise she would’ve been stuck at school and there wouldn’t be anyone to take care of Ebony.

* * *

They had been at the hospital for a little over an hour. Hannah had been shown to the kids’ room where she stayed with Ebony. There were a few other kids in there as well as a few parents. Every now and then a nurse would stick his or her head in just to make sure everyone was okay.

She’d kept her headphones on the entire time they had been in there. The other kids were a bit too rowdy for her liking, though Ebony didn’t seem to mind and would happily wander about inspecting the toys she came across. 

Hannah was taking her job of looking after Ebony very seriously. She’d never had any sort of responsibility like this before, and she wanted to prove she could do it. Besides, the last thing Lex or Ethan needed was for something to happen to Ebony. She hadn’t taken her eyes off of her the entire time they’d been at the hospital. She just sat with her back against the wall, keeping an eye on Ebony.

Every now and then Ebony would come over to her and show her something she’d found and they’d play together for a bit, but then she’d wander off again and Hannah would return to her stoic watchfulness.

“Are you alright, dear?” An older woman asked sitting next to Hannah.

She nodded, not taking her eyes off of Ebony.

“Why don’t you go play with the other children?” The woman asked. She seemed kind, but that didn’t really matter. Hannah had a job to do.

She shook her head and signed to show that she was watching Ebony. Her sore throat was feeling better, but she didn’t feel like talking anyway.

“You’re watching your sister?”

She nodded. She wasn’t sure if the woman understood sign language, but it was fairly easy to figure out that’s what those signs meant.

“That’s very responsible of you. I don’t think my granddaughter would be able to do that, she’s only seven, you see. How old are you?”

She holds up ten fingers.

“My, my, you’re getting big, aren’t you? Did your parents ask you to watch your little sister?”

She nods.

A girl a little younger than Hannah ran up to the woman.

“Granny, did you see the tower I built?” She asked, pointing towards a tower of Lego bricks.

“That’s very impressive, Violet.” The woman said.

Violet beamed before she spotted Hannah. “Who are you?” She asked.

Hannah spelt out her name on her fingers.

“Huh? Can’t you talk?”

She signed that she had a sore throat, not that this Violet girl would understand her.

“Don’t ask questions like that, Violet.” The woman reprimanded.

Violet went right up to Hannah face and pulled at her headphones. “Why are you wearing these?”

Hannah slapped her hand away and held the headphones to her ears.

Violet began to cry. “She hit me, Granny!”

“Because you shouldn’t touch things that aren’t yours.” The woman picked up Violet, pulling her away from Hannah.

Hannah felt bad for how she reacted, but she needed her headphones to stay on her ears. There was a lot going on in this room and she couldn’t afford a panic attack, not when she had Ebony to take care of. She still hadn’t taken her eyes off of her.

“What’s she staring at?” Violet asked.

“She’s being very responsible and watching her little sister.” The woman explained.

“Where are her parents?”

“Probably in the hospital somewhere. That’s enough questions for now, Violet. Why don’t you go back to playing?”

Violet goes back over to the large toy box to find something to play with.

“I’m sorry if she upset you, dear.” The woman said to Hannah. “She’s rather inquisitive and doesn’t know when she’d breaching personal boundaries.”

Hannah nods.

“If you ever want a break from watching your sister, I’d be happy to keep an eye on her for you.”

She shakes her head, signing that it was her job.

“I’m sorry, I didn’t quite catch all of that, do you mind writing it down?” The woman pulls out a small notebook and pen, handing it to her.

She takes it and writes down _It’s my job to watch her, dad gave it to me._ She hands the pen and paper back to the woman.

“I see. You want to do a good job for your dad, do you?”

She nods, signing that she wanted to do a good job for Lex as well.

Ebony crawled over to Hannah, climbing into her lap. Coming up onto her knees she patted Hannah’s cheeks to make sure she had her full attention.

“Mama? Dada?” She asked.

Hannah whispered softly while signing. “Still with doctor. They’ll make sure mum’s okay.” It hurt a little to speak but Ebony couldn’t read and didn’t know sign language. Besides, it would be good for her to see the colour.

“So, you can talk then.” The woman says, having heard Hannah.

Hannah nods and signs that she has a sore throat.

“That’s very clever that you know sign language for when it hurts to talk.”

She nods. She didn’t particularly want to go into the details of learning to sign for when it was too hard for her to talk during a panic attack.

“And I’m sure the doctors will take good care of your mum.”

She knew the doctors would take care of Lex, she just didn’t think they’d be able to do much for the baby.

“You don’t agree?” The woman asked, having noticed Hannah’s lack of response.

She reaches for the notebook and pen which the woman hands to her. _Mum will be okay but baby won’t be. Not meant to come till August._ She wrote.

“Oh, I’m sorry, dear.” The woman says as she reads the words. 

Hannah just shrugs and hugs Ebony to her.

* * *

The doctors had used a variety of different machines to see what was going on when they had first arrived. They’d used ultrasounds to get a look at the baby. They’d used a doppler to try and find the heartbeat. 

What they’d determined was that the baby had died that morning and now Lex’s body was rejecting it. The doctors hadn’t outrightly said any of this, but Ethan had heard them talking to one another. He’d seen their expressions. Nothing good ever came from doctors quietly muttering amongst themselves.

“We’re sorry, but we can’t find a heartbeat.” One of them had said.

“Check again.” Lex demanded, despite feeling the continued contractions. The baby was still inside her, her waters hadn’t broken. That meant the baby had to be okay, right?

“There’s no heartbeat.” The doctor said again. “I’m sorry. Your body has already begun to reject the fetus.”

“You’re wrong. Check again.” Angry tears were falling down her cheeks.

“Lex.” He said, his voice filled with sadness as he shifted closer to her. “They’ve already checked a hundred times.”

She turned to him. “No, you’re wrong. They’re wrong.” She points at the doctors. “My baby is still inside me. My baby is okay.” It was at that point that her waters broke. 

Even if the baby was still alive there was nothing that could be done now to stop it being born.

“Ethan.” She said, terror filling her eyes.

He moved so that he was sitting on the hospital bed next to her, wrapping an arm around her shoulders.

“I know.” He said, kissing the top of her head. “I’m here. I’m sorry.”

And thus, began the hours of labour. The doctors began prepping to deliver the tiny baby. They offered Lex pain medications, but she refused. She wanted to feel this. She wanted to remember this. This was her baby; her’s and Ethan’s.

It was after nightfall when the baby was born.

A nurse immediately wrapped it up in a blanket to hide it from view before moving to take it away somewhere.

“I want to see my baby.” Lex said, sitting up a little straighter. She still clung to the desperate hope that perhaps the baby was still alive.

“We don’t think that’s a good idea.” One of the doctors said.

“Let me see my baby.” She said, more force in her voice than before.

Reluctantly, the nurse came over, unwrapping the blanket so they could see. The baby was a little shorter than the length of Lex’s hand. She didn’t think she’d ever seen something so small and fragile. There was no real colour to the baby either, she knew that wasn’t good.

Carefully she took the baby from the nurse. She barely noticed its weight. Ethan moved a hand to join hers in holding the tiny baby.

“I’m sorry.” Lex whispered as she began to cry. “I’m sorry.” She continued to whisper to the baby as her body was wracked in sobs. “I’m sorry.”

All he could do was hold her and their child, tears of his own flowing down his cheeks.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I know, I'm sorry guys.


	29. Chapter 29

She felt empty. They’d taken the baby away and she was left with nothing to remember her by. Lex felt as if she had fallen into a pit of infinite sadness. She didn’t how she was going to be able to move on from this point. Didn’t know how she was supposed to care for Hannah and Ebony now. She couldn’t keep her baby safe, how was she meant to do the same for them?

She had Ethan. He was with her; he was feeling the same sadness she was. He understood. He could help her, and she could help him. She knew things weren’t going to feel better for a while. It didn’t help that she was physically exhausted. She’d lost a fair bit of blood and was feeling weak because of it. 

She felt cold. So cold. She’d lost the comforting warmth the baby’s presence in her womb had given her. She wished she could get that warmth back, even if it was just for a moment. One more moment with the baby. 

“You should try to sleep.” Ethan whispered to her. They’d been sitting together for an indefinite amount of time, simply holding each other as their tears fell; though they had no tears left now. His voice was hoarse and filled with sorrow and tiredness.

She shook her head. “There’s no point. When I wake up, she’ll still be gone.” Her words were hollow, echoing the emptiness inside of her.

“You need sleep, Lex.”

“I can’t.” She looked up at him for the first time in at least an hour. He looked the way she felt. Eyes red, cheeks tear-stained, and a complete look of exhaustion. “I’m scared I’ll dream.” She whispers so softly that the words are barely audible.

Ethan looked at her with an expression of total understanding. Seeming to understand that she was scared she’d dream of what could have been. What should have been. What was. Scared that in her dreams she may lose more than just this baby. She couldn’t sleep. Not yet.

* * *

Ebony had fallen asleep in her lap. She was still sitting in the corner of the kid’s room. She had borrowed the older woman’s notebook and pen so she could draw. She hadn’t thought to pack her drawing things from home. She’d mainly though of things to keep Ebony occupied and snacks for them to eat.

Her headphones were still firmly planted over her ears even as the room seemed to settle as night progressed. She had been drawing this picture for a long while now, since sunset. It was probably the most detailed drawing she’d ever done.

“That’s a beautiful drawing.” The woman said, looking over at what Hannah had been working on for so long. The sketch began with a small seed bellow the ground, from sprouting the tiny tendrils of roots. From the seed grew a stem that had burst through the soil, growing in a single flower, reaching for the light of the sun. There was a young girl, who’d yet to be born, bending down towards the flower. The girl in the drawing was tending to the flower, and in return the flower gave her purpose. The two were dependent on each other. Without one there wouldn’t be the other. If that seed hadn’t been put in the ground, and if that flower hadn’t grown, then that girl wouldn’t be there. Wouldn’t have been born.

“April showers bring May flowers.” Hannah said softly. The woman had given her a strepsil to suck on. It made her throat feel a lot better and she felt well enough to talk a bit.

“That’s a very true saying. Is that what you’re going to call your drawing?”

She tilted her head to the side, studying her artwork before shrugging and continuing to add minute details. This had to be perfect. She was going to make it perfect so that anyone who looked at it would know what she was saying. She needed to finish it before Ethan and Lex came to find her. She wanted it to help them, because she knew they were going to be sad. She was sad too, but it wasn’t her baby, she didn’t know it like they did.

She found it interesting to think that Ebony had no concept of what had happened that day. She didn’t know what death was. She didn’t know that there was an end to life. She wouldn’t even really know about its beginnings either. There was a lot about how life began and ended that Hannah didn’t understand. She knew it began when you were born and ended when you died. But she didn’t know how those events came to be.

She wondered where the baby was now. She’d learnt about heaven and hell, but was a baby that never lived eligible for heaven? She certainly didn’t think the powers at be would send something so innocent to hell, but wasn’t heaven for those who had done good deeds? She hoped whoever was in charge took pity on the baby and let it go to heaven.

“What happens when you die?” She asks, looking up at the older woman.

“That’s a rather difficult and complicated question.” The woman said.

Hannah gave a quizzical look, waiting for her to go on.

“There is no way to know what happens when someone dies, because no one has been able to come back and tell us. Of course, there are stories of those who have been clinically dead and then revived, and you hear about what they experienced, but there’s never any scientific proof. That’s the thing about the world we live in, no one will believe anything unless there is concrete evidence, and even then, there are the sceptics who refuse to acknowledge it. Of course, there are different faiths and belief systems that have all sorts of versions of the afterlife, but there is no way to know who is right, or if any of them are right. But at the end of the day, one thing is clear; death is a mystery.”

“What do you think?”

The woman sighs. “I’m not sure, if I’m being honest. I’d like to believe that when the time comes, I’ll spend eternity in paradise. But for all I know my consciousness may cease to exist entirely.” She looked down at Hannah and her drawing. “But don’t think too much on it, dear. I’m sure wherever your little brother or sister ended up they will be well taken care of.”

Hannah hoped the woman was right about that. Though she did wish that Lex and Ethan had gotten to be the ones to take care of the baby, She knew that that was what they were hoping to do; what they thought they’d get to do. She remembered from the lead up to Ebony being born that there had been no question about if they’d get to take care of her. It had been assumed that she’d come home with them and live with them, and that’s what had happened. That same expectation had been there for this baby, but it hadn’t been fulfilled.

She wondered what was going to happen now that the baby wasn’t there anymore. Would everything go back to the way it was before the baby had even existed? Or will things change? Hannah didn’t know which she wanted to happen, or which was the best option. There were too many unknowns.

She looked down at Ebony, still asleep in her lap. When she woke up, they would be a different family. There would be a small hole. She wondered if Ebony would notice it, would she be able to tell from their colours? Hannah didn’t know.

“It’s getting late, dear. Why don’t you come up on the couch and try to get some sleep?”

She shook her head. She couldn’t sleep yet, she still needed to watch Ebony and she needed to be awake when Ethan and Lex came to get her.

* * *

“How are we going to tell them?” Lex asked quietly after at least an hour of silence.

“I think Hannah already knows.” He said.

She gave him a puzzled look.

“In the car she just had this look of knowing exactly what was happening.” He explained, still not quite understanding how Hannah could have known what was happening.

Lex nodded, remembering the way Hannah had acted all morning. Telling her she was going to have a bad day, always coming up to give her a hug and the baby a pat.

She suddenly felt the absence of the two girls. They should be there with them. The baby was their family too. She missed them. Lex hoped that they were okay, having been left alone all day. She’d been so preoccupied with the baby that she hadn’t made sure they were okay.

“I’m going to get them.” She said, pulling away from Ethan for the first time all night. She suddenly felt the absence of his warmth as she made her way to stand up. In standing she found herself rather wobbly, the blood she still had left her head, making her feel dizzy.

“Woah.” Ethan grabbed her arms and gently eased her back onto the bed. “Stay here, I’ll go get them.” He kissed her forehead before getting up and leaving the room.

She didn’t really want to be left alone in this room, but she wanted to see the girls, and Hannah would only come if either she or Ethan went and got her.

He walked along the hospital hallways trying to remember where the kid’s room was. It took a little longer than it should have, but he found it eventually. He pushed open the door and saw Hannah sitting on the floor, back against the wall, with Ebony asleep on her lap.

“Hey Banana.” He said as he went over to her. His voice sounded exhausted and he reckoned he looked as much, he certainly felt as much.

Hannah gave him a soft and sympathetic half smile before turning to a woman who was sitting on the couch next to her. She gave the woman a notebook and pen he didn’t recognise, so assumed it was the woman’s.

She carefully tore a page out of the notebook and gave it to Hannah. “You keep that, dear.”

Hannah nodded before she carefully climbed to her feet, still holding Ebony. She swung her backpack onto her shoulder and took Ethan’s hand in hers.

“April showers bring May flowers.” She said quietly to him.

“Yeah.” He said, not quite sure how to respond to that.

They didn’t say anything as they made the trek back to the room Lex was in. When they got there Hannah handed Ebony to him before dumping her backpack on the floor and climbing onto the bed.

Lex didn’t say anything, and neither did Hannah. They just looked at each other conveying sadness and empathy. After a few minutes of this, tears began to fall down Lex’s cheeks once more.

Slowly Hannah wrapped her arms around Lex, gently rocking her back and forth. “It’s okay. You’re okay. I’ve got you.” She whispered.


	30. Chapter 30

Lex had managed to fall asleep with Hannah still rocking her. 

Hannah looked up at Ethan who was standing by the bed holding Ebony.

“What do you normally do after I fall asleep?” She asked. She’d been comforting Lex the way that she and Ethan normally comforted her when she was upset.

He shrugged and sat next to her. “Sometimes we’ll keep holding you, other times we’ll put you straight to bed.”

“What should I do?”

“I think you should lay her down.” He helped Hannah move Lex so that she was lying comfortably on the bed, wrapped in the blankets. He put Ebony down next to her.

Hannah moved so that she now sat on Ethan’s lap, wrapping her arms around him. He returns the hug. They sit like that in silence for a long while until Ethan breaks it.

“Do you know what happened, Banana?” He didn’t really want to have this conversation with Hannah, but though it would be easier on Lex if Hannah knew everything before she woke up.

She nodded. “Baby died.”

“Yeah, the baby died.” He sighs.

“’m sorry.” She squeezes him a little harder. “I know you loved baby.”

He squeezed back. “I still love her.”

“Baby’s a girl?”

“Yeah. And just because she’s gone doesn’t mean I’ve stopped loving her. Lex and I will never stop loving her.”

“How d’you know?” She sat back a little bit so she could see his face.

He shrugs. “I just do. Like how I know that no matter what I’ll always love you and Lex and Ebbi.”

“Promise?” She held out her pinkie finger.

He takes it with his. “Promise.”

When they let go of each other’s pinkie fingers she goes back to hugging him. He ran his hand over her hair and down her back. He though she had fallen asleep, but she spoke up once more.

“Baby have name?”

“Not yet.”

“Gonna give her a name?”

“We will. I don’t know when though. We’ll tell you when she has one.”

Hannah nods.

“I think it’s about time you get to sleep, Banana. It’s well past your bedtime.” He says kissing the top of her head.

She yawns and snuggles into him. He moves so that they’re lying down nest to Lex and Ebony. There wasn’t a lot of room on the bed, it being designed to have one occupant, so they were rather squashed. He didn’t mind though. He needed to be close to his family tonight. He reaches out one arm so that it’s wrapped around Lex, the two girls between them.

Hannah turns so that her back is to him. She copies him in reaching out an arm to wrap around Lex.

He can’t help but allow himself a small smile. He kisses the back of her head. “Night, Split. I love you.”

“Love you too, dad.” She mumbles, already half asleep. It had been a long day and a long night.

* * *

Lex woke up to see the two girls squished in between her and Ethan, none of whom were awake yet. It didn’t look quite right though. Why were there only two girls? There was meant to be three. But there wasn’t three, there were only two, one was missing. The third had gone, never to return. Would there ever be three again? She didn’t know. In her heart there would be three. She and Ethan would always have three girls. Hannah and Ebony and the third that didn’t have a name. She needed a name.

“Ethan?” She whispered, trying to wake him up without disturbing the girls. “Ethan?” She managed to extract an arm and lightly shook his shoulder until he began to stir.

“Hmm? Morning, babe.” He said, voice hoarse from sleep. It seemed to take him a few moments to realise where they were and why. “Hey, how are you feeling?”

“She needs a name.” Lex says, choosing to ignore his question, a question she wasn’t sure of the answer to. 

“Yeah, she does. Do you have anything in mind?” He props himself up on his elbow so he could see her better over the top of the girls.

“Not really. We didn’t get to talk about names, did we?” Her face falls, realising all the little things that wouldn’t get to happen now. No staying up late discussing baby names. No figuring out how to arrange the baby’s things. No guessing at what the baby would be like.

“Hey, it's okay.” He said softly, wiping a tear off of her cheek she hadn’t even realised had fallen, leaving his hand resting against her cheek. “We get to name her now.”

She took the hand he had on her cheek and held it with hers, interlacing their fingers. “I miss her.” She whispered.

He squeezed her hand. “I miss her too.”

Hannah began to wake up at this moment. She groaned and rubbed the sleep from her eyes. When she opened them and found that she wasn’t in her own bed began to panic slightly.

“Hannah, it’s okay, we’re at the hospital, remember?” Lex said, immediately jumping into action to soothe her sister.

Hannah calmed down at the sound of her voice, her memory returning to her. She crawls over Ebony so she can sit herself on Lex’s lap. She wraps her arms tightly around her, and Lex does the same, resting her chin on top of Hannah’s head.

“Okay?” She asks, talking softly.

“We will be.” Lex said. She didn’t know when but one day they would be okay. She looks over to Ethan and reaches for his hand, which he gives her.

* * *

It was midday when they got to set off from the hospital. The doctor had ordered for Lex to rest for the next few days and to not do anything strenuous. 

They walked through the halls of the hospital together. Ethan had one arm wrapped around Lex, supporting her, while the other held Ebony. Hannah walked beside Lex, holding her hand.

Hannah was eager to get out of there, she wanted to be able to relax and not wear her headphones for a bit. On the way out she saw the older woman who she had spoken to the night before. She gave the woman a little wave.

The woman smiled softly and waved back.

“Who’s that, Banana?” Lex asked, knowing full well that Hannah pretty much never acknowledged people she didn’t know.

“Nice lady.” She said. “Talked to me.”

Lex nodded and gave the woman a small smile. She was glad that someone had kept an eye out for Hannah and Ebony when she couldn’t.

The woman gave her a knowing look and a sympathetic smile before turning back to whatever it was that she was doing.

The four of them made their way out of the hospital and into the carpark, Ethan trying to remember were he’d parked the car with Ebony squirming in his arms.

“I’ll put you down in the car, Ebbi.” He said.

She continued to wriggle, trying to get put down onto the ground so she could wander about. She had been held pretty much all day and was getting fed up with it.

“It’s okay Ebbi. Home soon.” Hannah said. She was starting to get overwhelmed with all the noise Ebony was making, it reverberating around the multistorey carpark. She let go of Lex’s hand to press the headphones tightly against her ears.

“She’s probably hungry.” Lex began to riffle through Hannah’s backpack eventually pulling out an orange. She peels it enough to extract a segment and hands it to Ebony. 

She takes, calming down and begins to eat it. She lays her head down on Ethan’s shoulder while getting orange juice all over herself.

Ethan finds the car and they all get in, eager to get home. The drive was mostly silent, apart from Ebony occasionally crying out reaching for more of the orange.

It was strange being back there. Lex found herself noticing all the places and object she associated with the baby. The couch where she’d told Ethan she was pregnant on New Year’s Day. The   
table where she’d sit and daydream about what the baby would be like. The bedroom where she and Ethan would talk about their expanding family. The bathroom where she knew something was wrong.

Memories of the previous day flashed through her mind. She didn’t think she’d be able to go back in there for a while.

Ethan noticed where she was looking and took her hand, giving it a squeeze. “We’ll be okay.” He said. “We’ll get through this. Together.”

She nodded, a stray tear falling down her cheek. She quickly wiped it away, turning to face him. “Yeah, we’ll be okay. One day.”

He kisses her forehead. “Do you wanna lie down for a bit while I get lunch sorted?”

“Thanks, babe, but I think I’ll stay out here.” She said.

He nods, seeming to understand her need to not be alone right now. Being alone meant thinking. Thinking meant that all her thoughts would go back to yesterday and the baby and she didn’t want to have a break down.

She ends up sitting on the couch, watching Hannah and Ebony play on the floor. She couldn’t help but think that there’s one missing. There were meant to be three little girls playing together. Of course, she knew that had the baby not died she wouldn’t be able to play with them for quite a while yet.

Lex took long deep breaths, trying to keep tears at bay. She hugged a cushion to her chest, fiddling with one of its tassels that made up the corners.

It didn’t take long for Ethan to seat himself next to her, handing her a plate with a sandwich on it. He wrapped his arm around her, balancing his own lunch on his knees.

“Lunch is on the bench when you want it, Split.” He said.

Hannah nodded, finishing up what she was doing with Ebony before going and grabbing her sandwich and the yoghurt Ethan had gotten out for Ebony.

* * *

“I’m gonna go take a shower.” Lex said, getting up from the couch that night. The girls were already asleep in bed and she was ready to head there herself.

“Okay, let me know if you need anything.” He said. He’d been doing this all day, wanting to make sure that she was as comfortable and okay as he could help her to be. Lex had realised that evening that he was partially doing it to distract himself from his own thoughts.

She kissed his cheek as she made her way to the ensuite bathroom in their room. She closes the door behind her and turns on the water to heat up while she undresses.

She removes her shirt and catches a glimpse of herself in the mirror. Her eyes automatically go to her stomach. It looked empty, no longer full and round from carrying the baby.

A trembling hand goes to it, finding it much softer than it had been yesterday.

She wraps both arms around her stomach, crumpling to the floor with a thud as she begins to sob. A few of her sobs come out more akin to screams. There was just a wave of pain and emotion washing out of her, she couldn’t control it and she couldn’t stop it.

“Lex, are you okay?” Ethan’s voice came through the door.

She couldn’t stop crying long enough to answer him.

He opens the door and sees her there on the floor. “Oh, honey.” He says immediately going to her side. He wraps his arms around her, pulling her as close as possible. 

She was able to shift herself enough so that she was now clinging onto his shirt, sobbing into his chest. 

It had been years since he’d last Lex cry like this, though not quite as hard. Not since she was about sixteen and was attacked in the trailer by her mother’s boyfriend at the time. After his attack she’d been in so much pain she could barely move. It had been one of the rare occasions that Hannah had to ring Ethan because Lex was unable to do so.

He remembered waking up in the middle of the night, picking up his phone to hear the scared mutterings of a six-year-old Hannah. Honestly, he never understood any of what she was saying, but knew that if Hannah was ringing him it meant that Lex was unable. That something bad had happened to her.

He’d raced over to the trailer, finding Lex curled up on the floor crying and Hannah standing nearby, rocking from foot to foot, clutching the phone.

He’d held her the rest of the night and well into the morning as she cried. Her tears a mixture of physical and mental pain, and fear that the same thing that had happened to her would happen to Hannah.

This time he was holding her as she cried out the emotional pain that was losing their child. He felt it to, and his silent tears fell alongside her much louder ones.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Parts of the last few chapters, and probably next few chapters, are based off what I remember from when my mum had a miscarriage when I was around 6 and also what she's said about it since. In case any of you were wondering about that.


	31. Chapter 31

Things seemed to be slipping back into a relative normality, though a shadow of sadness seemed to follow them. Just when their minds would become distracted and start to wander, the creeping thoughts of the baby would appear.

There were often times when Ethan was at work and Hannah at school, after putting Ebony down for a nap that Lex would find herself thinking about the baby. She’d have to consciously stop herself from putting a hand to her stomach where the baby should still be but no longer was. 

Those moments were becoming less and less common, though she’d still think of the baby every day. She didn’t want to stop thinking about her though. Thinking about the baby kept her alive in a way, even if it was just in Lex’s memories and daydreams. 

She had worried a few times that she was becoming too distracted, that she wasn’t there enough for the rest of her family. But there were some days that were hard to stay in the present.

In the weeks since the baby’s death, Lex had noticed that Ebony had become fussier. She’d get upset at such small things that used to not bother her. Hannah kept saying it had something to do with sad colours, but Lex didn’t know what that meant. It was probably Ebony just picking up on the sad energy that seeped out of her and Ethan at varying points throughout the day.

It had taken them nearly a week to give the baby a name. Lex had always been a bit hesitant whenever she thought of a potential name or when Ethan suggested one because she didn’t know if it would suit the baby. They didn’t know what the baby’s personality was like. There was no way for them to know if that name would fit her.

When naming Ebony, they were able to look at her and see if she suited the name, but they couldn’t do that for this baby. After multiple conversations over several days they finally decided on one. Felicity Angel Green.

During the week it took to name Felicity, Hannah kept coming up to either Lex or Ethan and say ‘Happy Angel’ over and over again, giving them the expression that she was trying to convey something to them. It had actually been Hannah’s persistent saying of this that led to Ethan suggesting the baby’s middle name be Angel. 

When they told Hannah what they’d named Felicity, she grinned broadly.

“Happy Angel.” She’d said, nodding eagerly. “Webby says she likes it.”

“I’m glad she does.” Lex said.

Later that night she decided to google what the name ‘Felicity’ meant, finding it to mean happiness. In true Hannah fashion she seemed to know what was happening before it had occurred. Lex was always baffled at how she could do it. How she appeared to know the baby’s name before they had.

Things became a bit easier now that the baby had a name. It made her feel like she was more than just a memory. Hannah had even nicknamed her Felix. 

Even though Felicity wasn’t there physically with them, she was still a part of their family, and nothing could ever change that.

She had woken up feeling fairly okay that day. It was easy for her to get out of bed that morning and make sure Hannah got ready for school. Hannah, however didn't appear to be feeling as okay as Lex was.

“Can’t find.” Hannah said walking around the apartment, flapping her hands. “Can’t find.” She said again, becoming increasingly frustrated.

“What can’t you find?” Lex asked, putting her hand on her shoulder, to stop her and try to keep her focused.

Hannah cupped her hands over her ears, taking them on and off a few times.

“You can’t find her headphones?”

She nodded, moving past Lex and continued to walk around. She kept switching between covering her ears and flapping her hands.

Lex went over to Hannah’s school bag and riffled through it. Her headphones normally lived in there, as she used them pretty often at school and rarely at home. She had no luck in the bag so went into the girls’ bedroom. No luck there either.

“What’re you looking for?” Ethan asked, stopping as he walked past the bedroom door.

“Hannah’s headphones. She can’t find them, and neither can I.” She sighed.

“Well they’ve got to be somewhere. If we can’t find them here, then she probably left them at school.”

“Yeah.”

The two of them walk back out into the living room, where Hannah is still walking around.

“Can’t find.” She muttered. “Can’t find.” She’d started off the day perfectly fine, but not being able to find her headphones was making her stressed. She couldn’t go to school without them. The headphones needed to be found.

“Do remember where you last had them, Banana?” Ethan tried asking her.

Hannah didn’t answer him and kept muttering.

He and Lex could see how anxious Hannah was becoming. They began looking everywhere they could think of in search of the headphones. They were having no luck and had started to think that Hannah had probably left them at school. The problem with that was that Hannah wouldn’t go to school without the headphones.

After a few more minutes of searching Ebony began to cry, causing Hannah to freak out further. While Lex went to go calm down Ebony, Hannah squashed her hands against her ears, trying to block out as much noise as possible.

“Can’t find. Can’t. Find.” She said, her words turning into a shrill scream. It was too loud, and she didn’t have her headphones. Her only thoughts were on how to get away from the noise as she ran towards the front door, taking a hand away from her ears to turn the handle.

She’d only just made it a few steps out into the hallway when she’d picked up by Ethan.

“Woah there, Banana.” He swings her around so she’s facing him. There’s no way he’s letting her run off somewhere.

She shakes her head, accidently hitting him in the head with an elbow. She wanted to get further away from the noise. It was still too loud, even though they were now outside the apartment.

“A bit noisy in there is it? How about we just hang out here until Ebbi stops crying?” He suggested. He knew they’d need to leave soon if there was to be any hope of her getting to school on time and him to work, but Hannah being okay was more important.

She shrugs. She wanted to get further away from the noise, but she doesn’t think that Ethan would let her. She wraps her legs around his middle and rests her chin on his shoulder, still with her hands firmly clamped over her ears.

He rocked her side to side, still standing outside of the apartment in the hallway, waiting for Ebony to quiet down.

They waited a little while until the crying had stopped.

“Is it okay to go back inside now?” He asked, making sure not to talk too loudly.

Hannah gave him a short, stiff nod. He brought them both inside as Lex came out of the girls’ bedroom carrying Ebony.

“Everything okay?” She asked, noticing that Ethan and Hannah had come from the hallway.

He nodded. “Yeah, just got a bit loud for her.”

She nodded, coming over to them, brushing a few loose strands of hair out of Hannah’s face. “I think your headphones might be at school, Banana. Do you think you can go and see if they’re there?”

Hannah thought about it for a moment before slowly nodding.

Lex kissed her cheek. “Have fun at school.” She gives Ethan a quick kiss on the lips. “Have a good day, babe.”

“You too.” He said. “Love you.”

“Love you too.”

“Bye-bye.” Ebony said, waving at Ethan and Hannah.

He chuckles. “Bye Ebbi, love you.”

He drove to Hannah’s school as fast as he could knowing that the bell would have already gone. He quickly parks the car and gets out with Hannah. He didn’t always walk her in, but when she was having a bad day, he liked to make sure she got to class okay.

One the walk to her classroom, she took one hand off her ears to take his before returning with the two hands to her ear. When they reached her class, she hesitated at the doorway. She looked up at him.

“You’ll be okay, Banana.” He gave her hand a squeeze. “Go see if your headphones are there and you can put them on.”

Reluctantly Hannah let go of his hand and stepped into the classroom. She runs over to her bag bay and looks around for the headphones. They’re not there so she goes to her desk. She can’t find them they’re either. She begins to panic, the noise from her peers not helping things.

Before her teacher can stop her, she races out of the classroom and down the hall to where Ethan is walking back to the car. She wraps her arms around him from behind, breathing hard.

“Couldn’t find them, huh?” He says, turning in her arms before picking her up.

“Is she okay?” Her teacher asked sticking her head out of the classroom.

“Yeah, just misplaced her headphones and we can’t find them.” He said before returning his attention back to Hannah. “D’you reckon you can go back in?”

She shook her head, burying her head into his shoulder.

“Do you think you could come to work with me?” He’d let her come to work with him a few times, his boss, Geoff, didn’t mind. Ethan was always so grateful that Geoff was such a chill and understanding boss, it helped that he had an autistic cousin. 

She nodded into his shoulder.

“You gotta do schoolwork though, okay? You can’t just play in the office all day.”

She nodded again.

He quickly informed her teacher that he was talking her and grabbed a few worksheets for her to do.

They piled back into the car and headed for the garage that Ethan worked at. When they arrived, he shot Lex a quick text before walking inside, holding Hannah’s hand.

> No headphones at school. She didn’t wanna stay so she’s at work with me today. 

As soon as they were through the door Geoff spotted them.

“You’re late, everything okay?” He asked.

“Yeah, sorry. Couldn’t find her headphones.” Ethan explained.

Geoff gave a nod of understanding, not needing any more of an explanation. He was always cool like that. He only needed to know that Hannah was having a panic attack and he’d let Ethan go pick her up.

He guided Hannah over to the office where she was allowed to stay whenever she tagged along to work with him. He handed her school bag and the worksheets.

“You think you’ll be okay in here all day?”

She nodded, giving him a quick hug before spreading her schoolwork across the floor.

“You know where to find me if you need anything.” He said before ducking out into the workshop part of the garage. He felt his phone vibrate and saw that Lex had replied to his text.

> She okay? 

> Yeah, her class was too loud for her, but she’s fine now. 

He tucks his phone back into his pocket and gets to work. He hopes that Lex will be able to find the headphones.

Not half an hour later he notices his phone vibrate once more.

> Found them! 

Attached was a picture of the headphones in the corner of Ebony’s cot surrounded by her toys. It appeared that somehow she’d gotten her hands on them and they’d gotten hidden beneath the stuffed toys. 


	32. Chapter 32

A small pair of arms wrapped around her from behind as she stood in the kitchen making dinner.

“Hey, Banana.” Lex said, giving her hands that where secured around her middle a quick pat.

A smaller pair of arms wrapped around her leg.

“And hello Ebbi.” She ran a hand over Ebony’s brown curls. “What’s with the sudden hug attack?” She tried to turn so she could see Hannah but was unsuccessful. 

“Mama ‘ug.” Ebony said bouncing a little as she continued to cling onto Lex’s leg.

“I know what you’re doing.” She laughed. “But why?”

“Like hugging you.” Hannah said.

“And I like getting hugs from you two.” She reached an arm behind her to give Hannah a bit of a hug in return. “But right now, I’m trying to make dinner.”

Neither Hannah nor Ebony let go. She let out a sigh and tried working around the two girls practically hanging off her. Whenever she needed to walk to another part of the kitchen she was slowed down by Hannah and had to be careful not to trip up Ebony.

“Evening, ladies.” Ethan said as he came through the front door, having finished work for the day.

“Dada!” Ebony gasped, letting go of Lex so she could toddle over to Ethan.

“Hey kiddo.” He scooped her up off of the floor, sitting her on his hip. “Have you been good for your mum?”

She giggled and bounced herself up and down.

“How was work, babe?” Lex asked from the kitchen, able to move a little more freely now that she didn’t have to worry about stepping on her daughter.

“Eh, pretty average.” He replied, walking over to give her a quick kiss. “How was your day?”

“About the same.” She shrugged, going back to food preparations.

“Who’s your friend?” He asked ruffling Hannah’s hair, who broke her grip on Lex to swat his hands away before returning her arms around Lex’s waist.

“She decided it was time for a hug.” She said, shrugging again.

“Fair enough.” He leaned in closer and whispered in her ear. “Let me know if you need a hand detaching her.”

“Thanks, babe.” She whispers back, giving him a kiss on the cheek.

“You need a hand with anything?” 

“Would you be able to grab me the big tray from the cupboard?”

“Sure thing.” He went over to the designated tray cupboard. “I’m gonna have to put you down, Ebbi.” He makes to place her on the ground, but she grabs a hold of his arm, clinging to it tightly. He sighs and picks her back up again. He reaches with one hand into the cupboard, clattering the few trays about until he got his hand on the correct one. He pulled it out, though unfortunately another tray was caught on it and fell, banging to the floor.

Ebony immediately began to cry while Hannah tightened her grip on Lex, using her shoulders to rub at her ears, trying to dispel the sensation left by the noise.

“Sorry.” He said, attempting to calm down Ebony, who soon stopped crying and simply held onto him. 

“You okay, Banana?” Lex asked, trying to turn and get a good look at her.

Hannah continued to hang on tightly to her, not saying anything in response to the question.

Ethan came over with the tray in hand, and places it down on the bench before running a hand over Hannah’s hair.

“Sorry, split.” He said.

“’S okay.” She mumbled into Lex’s back. Her hands where currently tightly fisted around bunches of Lex’s shirt.

Lex rans her finger’s lightly over Hannah’s, trying to relax their tense grip. It didn’t appear to be working, so instead she let out a sigh and continued to make dinner.

There would occasionally be days when Hannah would be rather clingy, attaching herself to either Lex or Ethan. They were never quite sure what spurred Hannah to do this, they’d yet to find any sort of correlation with bad days or things going wrong at school. There would just be days that she wanted a lot of physical contact.

There would also be days where she didn’t like to be touched by anyone. Lex would almost always the exception to this. Those days seemed to happen whenever she was having a particularly bad day and became overwhelmed with the sensation of touch. Lex or Ethan would always have to come and pick her up from school early on those days, as she was prone to have panic attacks. They’d always have to spend a good little while trying to coax her out of her state so they could touch her and take her home.

But today was a clingy day so when it came to going to bed, they’d have to pry Hannah off of Lex.

“Come on, Hannah, you’ve got to go to bed.” Lex said that night.

She shook her head, burying it into Lex’s shoulder.

“Why don’t you want to go to bed?”

She shrugged.

“Are you worried about having a bad dream?”

She shook her head.

“Is there something about going to bed that’s scaring you?” Ethan asked, sitting next to Lex and Hannah who were sitting on her bed.

After thinking for a moment Hannah nodded. 

“What’s scaring you, Banana?” Lex asked, running her fingers through Hannah’s hair, combing out her braids.

“Tomorrow.” She mumbled.

She frowned. “What’s wrong with tomorrow?”

Slowly Hannah unwrapped herself from around Lex and got up off of the bed. She walked over to her schoolbag that was sitting in the corner. She spent a few moments searching inside it; the lights were off, save for the small lamp next to her bed as Ebony was already asleep in her cot.

After she rummaged through her school things, she pulled out a crumpled piece of paper. She smoothed it out before walking back over to her bed and handing it to Lex.

She quickly read over the words on the page, Ethan reading over her shoulder.

“Your class is going on an excursion tomorrow?” She said, putting down the note.

Hannah nodded, worry evident in her eyes. She fiddled nervously with her fingers, rocking back and forth on her heels.

“Why are you worried?” Ethan asked. “You’ve been on excursions before.”

“Not there.” She pointed at the space on the page where it said the destination of the excursion. They were going to the waterpark as a special treat as the end of the school year drew nearer. 

“Do you want to go?” He asked. 

She shrugged. “Meant to be fun, but no headphones.”

Waterparks were noisy places, and if she wanted to go swimming or on any of the slides, she wouldn’t be able to wear her headphones. She was also nervous about getting splashed too much. She’d never gone to a waterpark before and had no idea of what to expect, but she’d been to the beach and figured they’d be fairly similar in terms of crowds and cold water. But at the beach she’d had Ethan and Lex with her; she wouldn’t have them with her at the waterpark.

“It’s entirely up to you whether or not you want to go, okay?” Lex said rubbing Hannah’s arm.

She nodded, looking down at her fiddling hands.

“I’ll sign the note for you, but you don’t need to decide until tomorrow.”

She nodded again. She crawled on Ethan’s lap, watching as Lex grabbed a pen and filled out and signed the note before folding it and putting it her schoolbag.

“You reckon you can go to bed now?” He asked, kissing the top of her head.

She hugged him tightly before slowly nodding her head. She crawls from his lap onto her mattress and he and Lex tuck her in.

“Night, Banana.” Lex says, kissing her forehead.

“Na-night.” She mumbles back.

* * *

After much internal debate and talking to Webby; Hannah had decided to give going to the waterpark a try. She was nervous, but also a bit excited to try something new. Webby had said that she’d have a fun morning, so she reckoned she’d be okay. And so far, she had been.

Lex had told her to stick with her teacher and fellow classmates in case something went wrong they’d be able to help her. Lex had also found her ear plugs that she could wear when she couldn’t wear her headphones. They weren’t as efficient as the headphones, but they blocked out enough noise that she was able to enjoy some time in the pool.

She’d yet to work up the courage to try one of the slides. They looked fun and her classmates seemed to enjoy going on them. She just wasn’t sure what would happen.

She really wished that Lex or Ethan could go on the slides with her. 

She kept watching them, while she and the rest of her class sat at the picnic area, eating their lunches. She decided that once she’d finished eating, she’d give them a go.

After she packed up her lunch, she made sure her ear plugs were firmly in place before marching up the cold metal stairs that led to the mouth of the slide. She didn’t like that she was so high, but knew she’d be at ground level soon enough. 

Hannah looked at the water rushing down the slide. She could hear it through the ear plugs. The attendant smiled at her and gestured for her to sit down and prepare to go down the slide.

The attendant instructed her to launch herself, and Hannah did so, beginning to zip down the swirling slide.

After the initial fear wore off, she began to enjoy the ride. The rush of stimuli was exhilarating. The wind beat at her face as the water carried her faster and faster down the slide.

All too suddenly she reached to bottom of the slide, closing her eyes just in time as she was shot into the pool below.

The impact caused water to shoot up her nose and into her ears, the water pouring out of the slide made it hard for her to swim out of the way and to the surface. She didn’t like being   
submerged like this.

After several disorienting seconds she managed to brake, the surface of the pool, coughing a little and rubbing her eyes. She doggie-paddled over to a shallower part of the pool, snorting water from her nose. It was when she was able to stand in the water that she realised that the earplugs had fallen out.

She splashes around in the water, hoping to spot them, but has no luck. She immediately begins to panic, the noise of the pool area rushing over her in a tidal wave of irrepressible sound.

She covers her ears with her hands and starts to get out of the pool as quickly as she could so she could get to her headphones. She races over to her schoolbag, searching through it to find her headphones, but in her panic doesn’t find them.

She knows they’re in there, she was wearing them earlier, but her hap-hazard searching failed her. She panics further.

Her breathing comes out in short and fast gasps as she begins to rock back and forth on the grass next to her schoolbag. The grass felt like a thousand tiny needles pressing into her legs, but she was too worked up now to move herself.

Luckily her teacher notices her and comes over. “Everything okay, Hannah?”

She shakes her head, hugging her knees to her chest, hands over her ears.

“Anything I can do to help?”

She didn’t say anything.

“Do you want me to call your parents?”

She nods, hoping that Lex and Ethan aren’t disappointed that she couldn’t last the day at the waterpark.

It didn’t take long for Ethan to show up. The waterpark was too far from the apartment for Lex to walk, so Hannah knew that Ethan would be the one to come pick her up.

He goes straight over to her, sitting beside her.

“What’s shakin’, Banana?” He asks, noticing she didn’t have her headphones on. “Let’s put on your headphones, okay?” He reaches into her bag and rummages around, finding them at the very bottom. He slips them over her ears, allowing her to relax a bit.

She allows herself to fall into his side, cold and wet from being in the pool. He pulls out her towel and wraps it around her.

“That better?” He asks.

She nods.

“You wanna hang around for a bit and see if you want to go swimming some more, or do you wanna come back to work with me?”

She pokes him in the chest, cuddling up to him.

“Work it is then.”

“Sorry.” She whispers.

“What are you sorry about?”

“Couldn’t last the day.”

“You don’t need to be sorry about that.” He pulled her onto his lap so he could give her a proper hug. “Me and Lex are so proud of you for just coming here. A completely new place with lots of loud noise and all manner of things that could make you anxious, and you decided to give it a go. All by yourself too. We’re so proud of you.”

She smiled, resting her head on his shoulder.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This took a lot longer to write than I thought it would, so sorry it took so long.


	33. Chapter 33

Lex couldn’t sleep. It was too hot, even with the air con humming away. She just couldn’t get comfortable and her mind was going a mile a minute. She kept moving about in bed, trying to find a spot that was both comfortable and cool. She was honestly surprised she hadn’t woken up Ethan with all her tossing and turning.

She was up with thoughts of Felicity. She was meant to have been born soon. But she had been born too soon.

She flopped onto her back, letting out a sigh. She’d pretty much given up on any hopes of sleep She picked up her phone, the time on which read 2:05AM. There was also a new text message from Veronica.

Not thinking much about it, she opened the message and read it

> Alexandra, I know you are somewhat reluctant to consider a relationship between the two of us, but I really do think it would be beneficial. Don’t you want Hannah and Ebony to know their grandmother?
> 
> Sincerely, your grandmother, Veronica Foster 

Lex quickly typed back a reply.

> Leave them out of this. 

There was no way she was ever letting Veronica anywhere near her girls. She doubted Hannah wanted to meet up with the woman and Ebony was far too young to be involved in all this.

If Veronica truly care about her and the girls, then why didn’t she ever visit them in Hatchetfield? Why didn’t she try contacting Lex before she decided to kidnap the two girls? It just didn’t make sense.

She was surprised to hear her phone vibrate with a new message from Veronica.

> Don’t they have a right to meet me? Surely you don’t want to deprive them of a grandmother-granddaughter relationship.
> 
> Sincerely, your grandmother, Veronica Foster. 

> If you wanted a grandmother-granddaughter relationship with any of us then you shouldn’t have kidnapped them.

She turned the phone off and placed it back on the bedside table she’d picked it up from. Turning her head, she sees Ethan, still blissfully asleep. Lex had all but given up on the idea.

She pulls back the covers and gets up, walking out into the living room and then outside onto their small balcony. A warm breeze hit her as she stepped into the outdoors.

The lights of the city shone bright, the sound of car engines adding a white noise to the scene laid out beneath her. It was a lot noisier here at night than it had been in Hatchetfield. When they had first moved into their apartment, it had taken Hannah several sleepless nights to get used to it.

Lex sits down, slipping her legs between the railings so that they could dangle down over empty space. She sat back on her hands, closing her eyes and letting the night air wash over her.

Her mind was a mess of thoughts. Thinking about Veronica. About Felicity. She supposed that now she knew how Veronica felt when she, in a way, lost her daughter. Lex would do anything to get Felicity back, even if it was just for a day. But that could never happen.

Maybe when she one day died, she’d get to be with her again.

She felt someone come up behind her. She doesn’t move from her position, nor open her eyes, she knew it was Ethan.

“Hey,” He sits down next to her. “You okay?”

She nods. “Yeah, just couldn’t sleep.”

“Babe, you’re crying.”

“I am?” She sits up straight, opening her eyes and wiping the tears away. “Sorry.”

“Don’t apologise.” He nudges her before wrapping an arm around her waist, running his hand up and down her side. “What were you thinking about?” He asked, though he already had an inkling of what it could be. He’d been thinking about Felicity a lot recently too.

“She was meant to have been born around now.” She leans into him, resting her head on his shoulder.

“Yeah.”

They sit in silence for several beats before Lex speaks.

“Do you think we’ll ever have another baby?” Her words were barely above a whisper, but he still heard them.

He shrugs. “Maybe one day. I don’t really know though. Don’t get me wrong, I’d love to have more kids with you, but if you don’t want to have any more then I’m fine with that too.”

“It’s that I don’t want more, I do, one day. But I don’t want it to feel like whatever future child or children we have are replacing Felicity, you know?” She looks up at him, hoping that he understands what she means.

“Yeah, I get that, but Felicity wasn’t replacing Ebbi, and Ebbi wasn’t replacing Hannah. Any kids we have won’t be replacements of the ones that came before them, they’d be additions.” He gives her a soft kiss. “Our family can only grow.”

She kisses him back. “I love you. You know that right?”

He chuckles lightly. “Yeah I know. I love you too.”

* * *

It was her birthday, though she didn’t really feel like celebrating, or even acknowledging it for that matter. It didn’t feel right to celebrate the 21st anniversary of her birth when they couldn’t celebrate Felicity being born.

She was glad that when she woke up no one wished her a happy birthday. Part of her was a little hurt that neither Ethan nor Hannah remembered her birthday, but she was more relieved.

She just hoped this day went by quickly so she could forget all about it. It was her, Hannah and Ebony home all day with nowhere to go, she could manage that.

Hannah loved playing with Ebony, she always had, but even more so now that Ebony was more able to play along. The only hazard of them playing together was that if Hannah was arranging anything and Ebony messed it up, Hannah would become very stressed and anxious. So, Lex would always have to keep an eye on them, just in case.

So far, the day had gone by as planned. Though, Hannah did seem to notice that she was feeling a bit down, so she and Ebony drew Lex a picture. Hannah’s part of the drawing was of a spider, decorated with scribbles contributed by Ebony. It was a sweet gesture, and she appreciated it, putting the drawing on the fridge.

She was surprised when Ethan came home an hour early.

“You’re home early.” She said as he came through the door.

“Sorry?” He said coming over and giving her a kiss.

“I mean, why are you home early?”

“Oh, yeah, we’re going out.” He says pushing her gently towards the door.

“Hold on, I’m not going anywhere until you tell me what you’re planning.” She spun back around to face him, taking a step away from the door.

“It’s a surprise.”

“Ethan.” She said, dragging out his name.

“You honestly didn’t think I’d forgotten your birthday, did you? I had to do something, and I think you’ll like this.”

“Can’t we just forget about my birthday this year?”

“No, sorry babe, not gonna happen.”

She let out a harrumph. “Fine. What about the girls though?”

“They’re coming too.”

She looks over to where Hannah and Ebony are to see that they’re both ready for an outing. “You’re in on this?”

Hannah nods.

“Come on, let’s go.” Ethan said, guiding the family out of the door and into the car. Once everyone was buckled in, he handed Lex a blindfold.

“Seriously?” She looked at him incredulously.

“Yep.”

Reluctantly she wraps it around her eyes.

“No peaking. Banana make sure she doesn’t peak.” He instructed.

Hannah leans forward in her seat, directly behind Lex’s and hold her hands over her eyes. “Can’t see.”

Ethan put the car in motion, driving them to some mysterious location. Lex isn’t quite sure how long it takes but eventually they come to a stop. She makes to take the blindfold off but is stopped.

“Not yet.” Hannah says.

“Am I expected to walk about with this thing on?” She asks

“Yes, but don’t worry, we’ll help you.” He says, getting out of the car and walking around to Lex’s side to help her. “Don’t worry, you won’t have to go far.”

Together they walked over what she determined to be gravel. After a few minutes of this they come to a stop.

“Okay, you can look now.” He pulls the blindfold from her eyes.

She has to blink a few times as her eyes adjust to the light, but soon realises they were standing at the edge of a graveyard. He stands next her holding Ebony in one arm, taking her hand with the other.

“Ethan, what on earth?” She turns to look at him.

He nods over to a half-size brick wall covered in plaques.

Her eyes scan over them, each holding a name and a single date. One at the bottom catches her eye. _Felicity Angel Green_ it read, followed by the date she had died. She looks back over to Ethan who gives her a soft smile, squeezing her hand.

“When did you do this?”

“A few weeks ago. You remember when I took Hannah out to the movies? Afterwards we came here so she could help pick a spot to put Felicity’s plaque.” He explained.

Lex turns to her other side, where Hannah stood.

“Close to ground, see? So flowers can grow.” She says, pointing at the ground near the plaque.

“Good thinking, Banana.” Lex looks back to the plaque. She lets go of Ethan’s hand so she can go over to it. She kneels on the ground, reaching out her hand and tracing over the engraved letters of her daughter’s name.

Hannah crouches next to her, leaning into her. Ethan sits down on Lex’s other side, Ebony leaving his hold to sit on her lap. He kisses the side of her head, taking up her hand and giving it a squeeze.


	34. Chapter 34

Hannah was curled up on the couch reading. She enjoyed reading and diving into all sorts of adventures, though reading was hard for her. It had taken her ages to learn it well enough to be able to successfully read a book. She remembered reading her first ever chapter book when she was eight and how it had taken her ages.

The book had been _The Boxcar Children_ and she had loved it. She started it just after they moved to California, so a book about four children running away and living on their own in the middle of the woods was rather comforting to her.

It had taken her ages but when she showed the finished book to Lex and Ethan, they’d been so happy and excited for her. The three of them even got to go out for ice cream as a special treat.

Right now, she was making her way through _The Famous Five_ books and was very much enjoying them.

“How come we never go on adventures?” She asks Lex as she walks past.

“I think moving to California is enough adventure for me.” She said. “You can go on your own adventures when you’re older.”

“Famous Five are around my age.” Hannah holds up the book so Lex could see what she was reading. “Old enough for adventure.”

“I’m not going to let you run around the city by yourself.”

“Why?”

“It’s too dangerous and you’d probably have a panic attack with no one there who can help you.” She said.

“No.” Hannah shook her head. In the books she read no one ever had panic attacks. Sure, there was danger and excitement, but everyone was fine in the end. She didn’t understand why Lex wouldn’t let her have an adventure of her own.

“Books aren’t real life.” She sat down next to her. “Maybe when you’re older you’ll be able to have adventures like in your books, but right now it’s too dangerous for you.”

“How come?”

“Hannah, you know you’re different to other kids.”

She nods. “Autism.”

“Yeah, you’re autistic, which means that your brain doesn’t work the same way as other people’s. People can have trouble understanding you, just how you sometimes don’t understand other people.” Lex said.

Hannah nods. “Call me crazy.”

“You’re not crazy and they shouldn’t call you that.”

“Why am I autistic?”

She sighs. “I don’t know, Banana, I don’t think it’s even possible to know why. You were born this way, and I love that your autistic.”

She tilts her head to the side. “Really?”

“Yes, really. I wouldn’t change you if I had the choice. I love you for who you are. And so does Ethan and Ebbi.” She wraps her arms around Hannah in a hug.

She doesn’t reciprocate it right away. “Does autism mean something’s wrong with me?”

“No, it doesn’t.”

“People say there’s something wrong with me.” She says quietly.

“Who says that?” Lex leans back at bit so she could see her properly.

She shrugs. “People.” 

“Well, whoever they are, they’re wrong and don’t let them tell you otherwise. There is absolutely nothing wrong with you, Hannah. You are perfect just the way you are.” She held Hannah’s chin, tilting it so she was forced to make eye contact. 

She smiled, giving Lex a big hug. “Can I go on an adventure now?”

“Sorry, still no.”

* * *

They were at the shops. It was fairly quiet, so she wasn’t feeling too stressed about it. Lex even let her go to the toy aisle while she, Ethan and Ebony did the rest of the shopping.

Hannah knew she wouldn’t be allowed to get a new toy, but she enjoyed just looking at them all. The rows of dolls and action figures neatly stacked opposite their plush counterparts. She loved looking at the shelf dedicated to Funko Pops. She liked to arrange them, sometime alphabetically, sometimes numerical and sometimes by colour.

Today it was by colour. She happily stood in front of them flapping her left hand while sorting with her right and quietly humming to herself. She could easily do this for hours but knew she didn’t have that long.

“What are you doing?”

She turned to see that a boy who looked a few years younger than her asked the question. He was standing by a selection of nerf guns and was giving her a very odd look.

She chose to ignore his question and go back to her sorting.

“Uh, hello? Didn’t you hear me?” The boy came closer to her waving at her face to try and draw her attention.

She shrunk back a little but continued ignoring him. She was determined not to let him ruin her activity. She began flapping her hand harder.

“What’s wrong with you? You’re so weird.” He goes to poke her shoulder when a woman grabbed his hand.

“Don’t touch her Aston.” The woman said. She was wearing far too much perfume, causing Hannah to wrinkle her nose, not at all liking the scent. “You might catch whatever it is she has.”

Hannah shook her head. “Not contagious.” She muttered.

“Stop flapping your hand, you’ll waft her freak germs onto my son.” The woman slapped Hannah’s hand down.

She looked around not knowing what to do. Her breathing rate was increasing and her hand stung where the woman had hit her. She held the hand close to her chest. She couldn’t help but think back to the trailer in Hatchetfield, her mum hitting Lex, hitting her. She shook her head as tears welled up in her eyes. “No, no. Bad.” She whispered. She wanted this woman to leave her alone so she could go back to her sorting.

“You shouldn’t mutter like that. Didn’t your parents ever teach you how to enunciate?” The woman shook her head, now speaking to her son. “I doubt they did, I dare say those parents of hers must have vaccinated her. That’s why she’s such a freak.” She turns back to Hannah. “They vaccinated you, didn’t they? Yes, they did.”

She doesn’t know what to do. She barely knows what vaccinated meant. Should she try run back to Ethan and Lex and Ebony? She didn’t know whereabouts they were. She’d have to wander down every aisle to find them. Would the woman follow her if she tried to leave?

She decided to try and get back to Lex and Ethan and turns to leave the aisle, but the woman immediately grabs her arm. The acrylic nails on the woman’s finger’s dug painfully into Hannah’s arm.

“Not so fast, you little weirdo.”

Whatever the woman was going to say next was cut off by Ethan’s voice coming from around the corner. “Hey Banana, you ready to go?” He stopped in his tracks as he rounded the corner and saw what was happening. He immediately went into protective dad mode. “Hey! Let go of her.” He walked right up to the woman.

“Excuse me?”

“You heard me. Let go of her.”

Reluctantly the woman let go of Hannah, throwing her hands up in a mock surrender. “Fine, whatever. She’s too freaky for me to waste my time on anyway. Come on, Aston, let’s leave.”

Ethan turned to Hannah, crouching down to her level. “You okay, Split?”

“Hurt my hand.” She held up the hand the woman had hit, showing how the skin had turned red.

He kisses it better for her before wrapping her in a hug.

She hugs him back, resting her head on his shoulder. They stayed like that for several moments before Hannah spoke. “Something wrong with me?” She asked.

“What do you mean, Banana?”

“Mum said nothing wrong with me, but lady said there was.” She mumbled.

“There’s nothing wrong with you. There has never been anything wrong with you, and anyone who knows you knows that. Just because you’re different doesn’t mean you’re somehow wrong.”

“Different because autism.”

“No, you’re different because you’re a Banana.” He smiled at her.

“There are lots of bananas.” She said shaking her head.

“Yeah, sure there’s heaps of the fruit but there’s only one Hannah Banana Split.” He began tickling her sides causing her to giggle. “Let’s head over to the checkout, we’re meant to meet Lex and Ebbi.”

“Can I finish?” She points to the half-sorted shelf of Funko Pops.

“Yeah, okay. You’ve got to be quick though.”

She ran straight over to the shelf going back to flapping her hand as she continued to sort the different coloured figures and boxes. Ethan stood and watched, he was always fascinated with how her brain worked and how she found patterns in everything.

Hannah quickly finished sorting the items, standing back and examining it to make sure she hadn’t made any mistakes. She nodded, deciding she had properly finished before she went back over to him and taking his hand.

Together they walked out of the toy aisle and made their way over to the checkout so they could catch up with Lex and Ebony. It appeared that Hannah was over the whole encounter with that woman until she suddenly stopped in her tracks and shrunk into his side.

“What’s wrong?” He asked looking down at her.

She didn’t answer.

He followed her pointed gaze and laid eyes on the woman who had been harassing her earlier. He squeezed Hannah’s hand. “We’re just gonna keep walking, okay? Look, Lex and Ebbi are right over there.” He pointed over to where Lex was standing at the checkout, Ebony sitting in the trolley next to her.

Hannah still said nothing, clinging onto his arm.

“Do you need me to carry you, or do you reckon you can walk?” He asked.

She shrugs.

He sighs. “Let’s try walking and if that doesn’t work out, I’ll carry you, okay?” He knew a time would come when he couldn’t carry her anymore, so it was best to start getting her used to walking when she was upset.

She nods, still holding on tight.

They manage to walk all the way over to where the other two were.

“Dada! ‘Nana!” Ebony said when she spotted them, announcing their arrival.

“Hey Ebbi.” He said, ruffling her hair.

“You two certainly took your time.” Lex said, only sparing a glance from where she was scanning various items at the self-checkout. She pauses and takes another look at Ethan and Hannah, noticing how she was clinging onto him. “What happened?”

“Mean.” Hannah said, moving from Ethan to Lex, hugging her tightly.

“Someone was mean to you?” She asked, hugging back.

She nodded.

“Yeah, some woman was having a go at her. Even grabbed her arm and hit her hand.” Ethan said, explaining as much as he knew.

“An adult should really know better.” Lex shook her head in disbelief. “Are you okay though, Hannah?”

She shrugged, continuing to hug Lex.

“Dada, up.” Ebony said, reaching towards Ethan from her seat in the trolley. He obliged and picked her up and she immediately began playing with his hair as Lex finished off the transaction.

It was then that the woman walked past them with her son, looking down her nose at them.

“My word, there’s two freak children.” The woman said.

“What did you say?” Lex asked accusatorily.

“I didn’t say anything.” She said, looking disdainfully at Lex.

“Yes, you did. You were talking about my kids.”

The woman looks her up and down. “You hardly look old enough to have children.”

“I’m sorry, are you that kids mum or his grandma?”

The woman gasped, holding a hand to her heart. “How dare you!”

He son snickered.

“No, how dare you say something so horrible and inconsiderate about my girls.” Lex glared daggers at the woman. “How would you feel if I called your kid a freak, how do you think that would make him feel?”

“Well my son isn’t a freak.”

“Neither are my kids.” Lex cut the woman off. She turns to Ethan. “Come on, let’s go.” 

He waits until they are out of the shop to speak. “Damn, babe, you showed her.”

“People like her just infuriate me.” She shook her head as they walked over to the car. “How are you going, Hannah?”

She shrugged, still firmly attached to Lex.

“Can you let go so we can drive home?”

“Hold Ebbi?” She asked, looking up at Lex.

She shook her head. “Ebbi has to sit in her car seat.”

Hannah thought for a moment. “Hold hands?”

“Yes, you can hold hands.”

She let go of Lex and got into the car, taking hold of Ebony’s hand for the drive home.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Fun fact about Hannah reading The Boxcar Children: It was the first chapter book I ever read when I was in year 3 (8/9 years old). And I basically only managed to read it because I'd listened to the audiobook so many times I'd practically memorised it but even then it still took me ages to read.


	35. Chapter 35

Lex awoke to a fairly cool morning by California standards. It was the day before Hannah was to go back to school for the year and needed to make sure that she had everything she’d need. Lex also needed to make sure that Hannah knew that she was going to go back and be interacting with more people than normal. This part got easier each year.

The first few years of Hannah going to school had been rather difficult. She’d get used to the summer holidays where she didn’t have to interact with anyone other than Lex or Ethan, but then was suddenly put back in a class of kids who were loud and unpleasant. The first couple of days back at school always resulted in several panic attacks for Hannah as she readjusted.

Last year, however, she’d only had the one on the first day back. And Lex was hoping for similar this year or even more improvement.

She got out of bed carefully as to not wake Ethan. She first made her way to the girls’ room, as they’d probably be awake by now. She sticks her head through the door, seeing that Hannah wasn’t in her bed and must be in the living room or bathroom. Ebony was also awake standing up in her cot. 

“Mama.” She said through a yawn, reaching out for Lex.

“Morning, Ebbi.” She picked her up, sitting her on her hip. “Let’s go find Hannah.”

They went out into the living room. There was no sign of Hannah. She found this strange, normally if Hannah woke up before her, she’d just watch TV until someone else woke up.

She checked the bathroom, finding it unoccupied. Lex wandered through all the rooms of the apartment which held no sign of Hannah. She was starting to get worried. She went back into the girls’ room to check it one more time. This time she noticed a folded piece of paper sitting in the middle of Hannah’s pillow. She unfolded it and read what it said.

_Gone on an adventure, be back later.  
Love from Hannah _

“Oh no.” Lex said allowed, going straight to wake up Ethan. It was one thing for Hannah to run off when she was overwhelmed because they would see her leave and catch up to her quickly. It was a totally different matter for Hannah to leave purposefully with who knew how much of a head start. She had no idea how Hannah could think this was a good idea or that this was okay after Lex had told her she was too young to go off on an adventure. The fact that she’d written a note indicated this was something she’d thought about and planned.

“Ethan! Get up!” Lex said as she entered their bedroom, still carrying Ebony who seemed to be a little confused at her mother’s change in mood.

“Huh? What’s wrong?” He yawned, slowly sitting up in bed.

“Hannah’s run off somewhere.” She handed him the note which he quickly read.

“Shit. Do you know how long she’s been gone?” He asks, getting out of bed and getting changed.

Lex shook her head. “She had already left when I woke up.”

“Did you see if she took anything with her?”

She shook her head again. “I’ll go check, keep getting ready.” 

She went back into the girls’ room immediately noticing that Hannah’s backpack was missing. She went to go report it to Ethan, him exiting their bedroom as she neared the doorway.

“She took her backpack.”

“Okay, so she’ll have her headphones. Hopefully she won’t have a panic attack then.” He said putting a hand on her shoulder. “She’ll be okay, we’ll find her.” He spoke both to reassure Lex and himself.

They quickly made their way out of the apartment and over to where the car was parked. On the way out, Lex grabbed some food for Ebony, knowing she’d be getting hungry and didn’t want to have to stop the search for Hannah to get some for her to eat.

“Any idea where she might have headed?” Ethan asked as they piled into the car.

“No.” She said, desperately trying to think of a place or direction Hannah could have headed in. She knew that she would try to avoid any place that was crowded. What place wasn’t overly crowded that Hannah would think as adventurous? “The park. She might have gone there.” She exclaimed.

It was just the sort of place that Hannah would think of as adventurous. A lot of her adventure books were set in the great outdoors, in places that were filled with nature. 

Ethan drove straight to the park. Throughout the relatively short drive, Lex scanned the street, looking for any sign relating to Hannah.

Once at there, they got out of the car and began making their way through the park. It was still fairly early so there were minimal people there, only the occasional jogger or dog-walker. They scoured what felt like every inch of the park, finding no trace of Hannah.

“Do you think she’s here somewhere?” Lex asked.

“She might be, but we can’t find a sign of her and we’ve been through the entire park. If was here I think she has moved on somewhere else.” He said, scanning the park one more time, just in case.

They were both a little reluctant to move on. What if she was there somewhere and they missed her? But she could just as easily be somewhere else and they were wasting valuable time staying at the park.

“Where else could she have gone?” She asked.

“The beach?” It was the first place Ethan could think of that Hannah knew how to get to that wasn’t the park.

“There’s always a ton of people there, you really think she may have gone there?”

He shrugged. “It’s a possibility. There’s that quite lagoon-y area. You know with the beach river thing, she loved hanging around there the last time we went.”

“Okay, yeah, let’s try it.”

They headed back to the car and drove to the beach. It was mid-morning by the time and there were already plenty of people there, though they were all by the shoreline, not bothering to enjoy the peaceful area that was the river that broke off from the ocean. Hannah loved the lack of waves and people, allowing her to properly enjoy swimming around without any anxiety.

“Look.” Lex points to a spot in the sand as they reach the river. There in the wet sand a spider had been drawn; a very Hannah-like thing to do. “She must have been here.”

The walk further down river, seeing the occasional spider or Fibonacci spiral drawn in the sand.

* * *

The sun had only just risen when Hannah had left the apartment, backpack on her back. She had been planning on going off on her adventure for a few days now, figuring out what she was going to do and where she was going to go. She decided that the last day of school holidays was the perfect day for it all to happen.

She had been so excited about her adventure she’d hardly gotten any sleep. It had been really hard for her not to tell Lex or Ethan, but she didn’t think they’d let her go and she wanted to prove she could do things on her own. She had told Ebony though, knowing that she didn’t know enough words to tell on her.

When she’d gotten out onto the street she’d happily skipped along the pavement. Her destination was the beach. She thought it was a good place for an adventure, plus it was a scary place to go by herself so it would doubly prove she was old enough for adventures.

It had taken her almost an hour to walk all the way to the beach and she was totally fine. There was hardly anyone there yet, so she didn’t feel overwhelmed at all. The crashing of the waves was a bit loud, so she pulled her headphones out of her bag and put them over her ears.

She hummed happily to herself as she made her way down to the quiet river that was filled with ocean water. It was beautiful and the water was so clear she could see fish swimming around. She stopped to watch them for a bit.

After a few minutes she decided that she wanted to explore further along the river, further than she was usually allowed. She quickly drew a picture of Webby in the sand in case she got lost. She hurriedly washed the sand from her fingers before starting her journey down the river.

It was a nice walk. She liked looking at the river flowing, the light refracting across its’ surface. Whenever she spotted a nice shell, she’d pick it up and wash it off before examining it and putting it in her backpack. Whenever she got a new shell, she drew another Webby or a Fibonacci spiral to mark the spot and to help her on her way back home.

After an hour of exploring the river she decided to stop for a snack. She hadn’t had any breakfast and her adventure was making her rather hungry. She sat down on a large rock near the water’s edge and dug through her backpack until she found a muesli bar. She unwrapped it and began eating, enjoying the warm sun on her back.

After her snack break, she continued on her adventure. She walked for a further ten minutes before she hit the edge of the sandy part of the river and the beginning of a heavily foliaged area. She had the brilliant idea to find a nice big tree to climb. Maybe she could climb really high and then jump in the river. She hadn’t brought her togs with her, but she would be fine in her normal clothes. She had all day to dry off before she went back home.

Lots of ferns brushed against her legs as she walked. She didn’t like that. She kept having to stop and rub the sensation from her legs. There wasn’t much of a path through the scrub, but that was all part of the adventure. It would be all worth it when she found the perfect tree to climb.

* * *

They walked along the river’s edge as fast as they could across the sand. They made note of every spider and spiral that had been drawn in the sand. They had no way of knowing how long ago they had been drawn, just hoped it wasn’t too long ago.

“We have to be catching up to her, right?” Lex said.

“I hope so, babe.” Ethan replied.

They both desperately hoped that when they eventually found Hannah that she was alright. There was no telling if something had happened and caused her to panic. Someone may have been rude to her, or there could’ve been a sudden loud noise. She could have gotten lost. They had no way of knowing how Hannah was at that moment, all they could do was try to find her, and find her fast.

They soon reached the end of the sand, a scrubby, bushy area taking its place.

“Do you think she went in there?” He asked, noting all the ferns and other low to the ground plants that would scratch and irritate Hannah’s legs.

“Maybe.” She replied. “Worth look though, right?”

“Yeah. It’s not like we saw her anywhere else along the river.”

Together they entered the scrub, continuing to follow along the river, and hoping Hannah had done the same.

The entire time they had been searching Ebony had been hanging onto Ethan. Naturally being only one she had no idea of what was actually going on. She could tell that her parents were worried however so tried to cheer them up by pointing out fish in the river. They kept talking about Hannah, who must be the reason they were worried. Ebony hadn’t seen Hannah all day and she missed her sister.

She decided to look around and see if she could spot her. Over by a large tree she saw someone who looked a lot like Hannah, so she decided to point it out.

“’Nana.” She said pointing.

Lex and Ethan immediately looked in the direction that Ebony was pointing, and sure enough there Hannah was trying to figure out how to climb a tree by the river.

“Hannah!” Lex called out as the two of them raced over to her.

Hannah looked up from the tree branches she was holding on to and waved at the two. Not quite knowing why they were there. 

Lex immediately wrapped her in a big hug.

“Thank God you’re okay. We were so worried.” She said as Ethan joined in the hug, one arm still holding onto Ebony.

“Why worried?” Hannah asked. “Just on adventure.”

“You wondered off without telling us. We didn’t know if you were okay or where you were.” Ethan explained.

“Left note.”

“You can’t go off like that.” Lex said. “Something could have happened to you. You could’ve had a panic attack.”

“Didn’t though.” She said. “Can take care of myself.”

“Yes, but you still can’t just leave like that without letting us know.” Lex sighed. She was glad Hannah was safe, and yes she was becoming more and more independent. But that didn’t change the fact that she almost entirely relied on Lex and Ethan to help calm her down when she was upset. Lex didn’t quite think she was independent enough to be able to wander around on her own. She could leave her home alone for short periods but being out in public alone was an entirely different matter.

“Come one, let’s go home.” Ethan said, breaking away from the hug.

Hannah pouted. “Haven’t finished adventure.”

“You can finish it when you’re older.” Lex said, taking Hannah’s hand as they began to walk back upriver and towards the car.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I was tossing up between having Hannah have a panic attack while on her adventure or being perfectly fine. So I compromised and wrote the last chapter so Hannah could get upset and then have her be fine on her adventure.
> 
> Also I just love writing for Hannah because I'm autistic so it's great to just give her my different stims and quirks and stuff


	36. Chapter 36

It had been a rather long and tiring few weeks. Hannah had gone back to school and ended up with having a teacher who wasn’t at all good at catering to an autistic student. Instead of her making an easy transition back into the school routine, she’d had many panic attacks and never wanted to go to school. Lex was working on getting her transferred to a different class, but for now she was stuck with her horrible teacher.

Lex and Ethan had had to take several extra trips into the school to calm down Hannah after a panic attack caused by her teacher. The teacher didn’t like her wearing her headphones or the magic hat, despite any notes written saying she was allowed to wear them whenever she needed them.

It was nice for them to finally get a chance to take a little break and relax with the long weekend. The four of them were all curled up on the couch together watching Matilda.

It was getting late and the movie was almost over. Hannah had fallen asleep not long ago, leaning heavily into Ethan’s side. He didn’t blame her. She’d been having a very rough few weeks and had been far too stressed for a kid.

Lex was resting her head on his other shoulder. She was still awake, but he figured it was only a matter of time before she fell asleep too. Ebony was already asleep in her lap.

He had wrapped an arm each around Hannah and Lex, his thumb rubbing circles into Lex’s side. Occasionally moving it further around so he could hold onto Ebony’s hand.

The end credits finally began to roll. He kisses the top of Lex’s head.

“You still awake, babe?” He asks.

“Course I am.” She says through a stifled yawn. 

“Really? Could’ve fooled me.” He grins.

She lightly hits his chest with the back of her hand.

He chuckles, giving her a squeeze.

“Hannah asleep?” She asks.

“Yeah.”

“Good, she definitely after the week she’s had.” Lex said. In the past week alone Hannah had had a panic attack almost every day. Lex was tempted to just keep her home until she was able to change classes. She didn’t want it to get to the point where Hannah full on refused to go to school because of this bad experience, even after her class transfer had occurred.

“Poor kid.” He ran a hand over Hannah’s head before returning it to be wrapped around her.

“I don’t know why the school would assign her such a terrible teacher. They know she’s autistic.” She let out a sigh.

“Well hopefully the class transfer will be sorted out soon and she’ll be able to enjoy school again. Who knows, she may even make a friend in her new class.” 

In all of Hannah’s ten years she had yet to make a friend of her own. Back in Hatchetfield she didn’t quite have the language skills to keep up with what the other kids were saying all the time, and none of them understood her. She was largely just ignored by her classmates back then, though on occasion one or two would talk to her only to bully her. Things had been better in California. 

When she first started at her new school Lex and Ethan had hoped she’d be able to make some friends now that her speech had greatly improved; but she seemed to hesitant to try. Hannah had preferred to just keep herself to herself rather than risk being bullied again.

It wasn’t just her speaking that had held her back in terms of making friendships, but it was also Webby. Most kids had grown out of imaginary friends by the time they started school, but Hannah hadn’t. The most she’d ever talk was to or about Webby, and her peers found her weird. Now she was older they found it even stranger, though she didn’t talk about Webby in front of those she didn’t know; she still said some rather unusual things. 

Hannah began to stir, slowly opening her eyes and lifting her head slightly from Ethan’s shoulder. “Movie finished?” She asked sleepily.

“Yeah it’s finished.” Lex said softly, brushing loose hair out of Hannah’s eyes. “Go back to sleep.”

She mumbled something before lying her head back down on Ethan’s shoulder and going back to sleep.

* * *

It had taken another few weeks nagging the school and a lot of panic attacks but finally Hannah was getting to transfer into a new class with hopefully a much better teacher. However, she didn’t want to go to school anymore. The past few days she’d put up a pretty good fight against going to school, though Lex and Ethan always managed to convince her to go, even though they’d have to come and pick her up early. Today was no different.

“Hannah, you’re going to be in a new class today. It’s not going to be a bad day.” Lex said, holding onto Hannah’s shoulder’s so she wouldn’t be able to run off into a different room to avoid school.

“Don’t wanna go.” She said, trying to get out of Lex’s grip.

“Its’ gonna be a good day, Banana.” Ethan said, holding her school bag. “Come on, you’ll be okay. You can wear your hat and your headphones as much as you want.”

She looked up at him as he held the hat out to her. She carefully took it examining it before looking back to Lex as if to check if what Ethan had said was true.

“You’ll be okay today.” She reassured her.

Hannah slowly placed the hat on her head, putting her headphones over the top. She took his hand, now allowing herself to be led out to the car and to school.

It was one thing to get her to willingly leave the apartment and drive to school. It was another matter to get her to leave the car and go to her classroom.

“Gotta get out now, Split.” He said after parking the car out the front of the main school building.

“No.”

“Come on, you don’t want to be late, do you?”

“Not going.”

“Why don’t you want to go?”

“Don’t like school.” She huffed, crossing her arms.

“You loved school last year. What’s changed?” He knew she wasn’t having a good time because of her teacher, but he found it helped Hannah to talk about what she was thinking and feeling. It helped her pinpoint what was causing her distress so that he could help her.

“Bad teacher. Bad class.”

“But today you get a new teacher and a new class. Don’t you want to give them a go?”

She shrugged.

“How about I walk you to class and you can have a look then decide if you want to go in or not. How does that sound?” He suggested.

After thinking this through for a moment she slowly nodded her head.

He jumped out of the car and went around to get her from the other side. He held her hand and walked her to her new classroom. The other students were already inside and seemed a lot calmer than her previous class.

“Think you can go in?”

She rocked back and forth on her heels, thinking it over. She stops to look up at him.

He gives her hand a squeeze. “You’ll be okay.”

“Promise?”

“Promise.”

“Okay.” She lets go of his hand to give him a quick hug before going into the classroom, the teacher smiling warmly at her.

Ethan waits for her to find a seat and get settled before he heads off to work.

* * *

“How was school, Banana?” Lex asks as Hannah comes up to her at their usual meeting point at the school gate. She guessed it had been a good day by the fact that she hadn’t needed to come pick her up early, which was very much a relief.

“Alright.” She said, bouncing a little on her toes. She goes over to Ebony in the stroller, crouching down. “Hi Ebbi, miss me?”

“’Nana!”

She stands back up. “Carry her?”

Lex nods. “She’s been pretty wriggly today, so you’ll probably have to put her down, okay?”

Hannah nods and picks Ebony up out of the stroller.

“What did you do today?” She asked as they begin the walk back to the apartment.

“School stuff. Did some talking.”

“Yeah? Who did you talk to?”

“Nice boy.”

Had Hannah finally made a friend? Lex couldn’t help but smile. “What’s his name?”

“Cody. He’s different like me, but not my sort of different.”

“What makes him different?”

She shrugged. “Not sure. Doesn’t matter though.” She moves further ahead of Lex, starting up a conversation with Ebony.

Lex pulled out her phone and sent a quick text to Ethan.

> I think Hannah made a friend. 

She sent it off but didn’t receive a response until they were back at the apartment.

> You’re kidding. 

> Nope. She told me about a nice boy in her class named Cody she was talking to. 

“Do you have any homework, Banana?” She asked as she packed away the stroller.

Hannah shook her head and sat on the floor with Ebony, starting to play together. “Got it all done in class.”

This was something that hardly ever happened. Hannah always struggled to focus long enough in class to get everything done due to the noise of her classmates. She would struggle even with her headphones on, so would often have a fair bit of homework that she easily got through at home where it was much quieter. This just went to show how much better her new class was, even after only one day.

Lex had worried that with all the trouble Hannah had with her last class and teacher that she may regress, but she didn’t have that worry anymore. This new class and teacher were going to be good for her, especially now that she had a friend.


	37. Chapter 37

“Mum! Mum!” Hannah called out as she excitedly ran up to Lex at the school gate.

“Hey, Banana, you look like you’ve had a good day.” She said, giving her a quick hug. Since being transferred into a new class Hannah had been so much happier and more relaxed. She hadn’t had a panic attack at school and had only had one at home in the month since the transfer.

“Mum, tomorrow after school can I go play at Cody’s house?” She asked hopefully, standing on tip toe. 

Hannah had become best friends with Cody. She’d ended up sitting next to him on her first day and got along really well. He was a bit of an outcast, him having down syndrome, so had helped Hannah out on her first day in hopes of becoming friends. 

“Is it okay with Cody’s mum that you go over?” Lex asked. 

She nodded.

She thought for a moment. “Alright, you can go.” She decided. It would be good for Hannah to have an opportunity to go somewhere where she’d be safe without her or Ethan. Maybe it would help curb her desire to go off on adventures. It didn’t stop Lex being a little nervous about it though. What if she had a panic attack? What if she got overwhelmed and ran off? She knew it was unlikely that either of these things would happen, but it didn’t stop the worry. In all honesty she had the same worries with Hannah going to school.

“Thank you!” She gave Lex a big hug, a grin stretched across her face. “I’m gonna go tell Cody.” She ran over to where Cody was standing with his mum.

Lex followed, wanting to introduce herself to Cody’s mum.

His mum saw her and smiled. “Hi, I’m Sandra.” She said holding out a hand for Lex to shake. “Cody’s mum.”

She took it. “Lex.” She said. “It’s nice to meet you.”

“You too. Cody’s been nagging me all week about having Hannah come over.” Sandra says.

“Hannah was very excited about it when she asked me. She talks about Cody all the time. He’s the first friend she’s ever made, so I’m not surprised.”

“The two have really hit it off, haven’t they? It normally takes Cody a little while to become friends with someone.”

The two chat for a little while longer, exchanging phone numbers in case something went wrong at the playdate the following day. They sorted out the details of Sandra taking Hannah home with her and Cody from school, and that Lex would come pick her up at 7:30. Lex also gave Sandra a quick run-down of things that could trigger a panic attack from Hannah and foods that she wouldn’t eat.

“I’m sure she’ll be fine, but just in case.” She said after having explained everything.

“Of course, she and Cody will have a great time, you don’t need to worry.” Sandra smiled.

“I’m always going to worry about her. But thanks, I know you’ll take care of her.”

At that moment Ebony started crying, no longer liking sitting in the stroller with no one really paying attention to her. Lex bent down and picked her up, rubbing her back, quickly calming her down.

“Sorry, I should probably get her home. It was great to meet, you Sandra.”

“You too, Lex.” She gave her a quick wave before calling Cody over to her.

“Time to go, Banana.” Lex held out a hand to Hannah, beckoning it over.

“Bye, Cody, see you tomorrow.” Hannah waved to her friend before taking Lex’s hand, happily skipping along beside her as they made their way home.

Due to staying later at school and chatting so long, they ended up getting back to the apartment the same time that Ethan arrived.

When Hannah spotted him in the hallway outside their apartment, she ran straight over to him, giving him a big hug.

“Guess what!” She asked excitedly bouncing up and down a bit.

“What?” He picked her up while he unlocked the door, holding it open so Lex could push the stroller inside.

“I’m gonna go to Cody’s house tomorrow!”

“That’s great, Banana.”

She smiled, before wriggling her way to the floor and running off to go put her school things away.

Ethan walked over to where Lex was packing up the stroller with one hand, the other carrying Ebony. He wraps his arm around her and kisses her cheek. “Hey.” He said.

“Hey, yourself.” She turned so she could give him a kiss on the lips.

Ebony reaches for him from her spot in Lex’s arms. He obliges and takes Ebony into his own arms. She immediately begins to play with his hair.

“I’m starting to think she only likes me because of my hair.” He says with a laugh.

“I don’t blame her; I like your hair too.” She reached a hand up and ran her fingers through his curls. “Though it is odd how much she plays with it, seeing as she has the exact same hair as you.”

* * *

Hannah had been very excited when Ethan had taken her off to school the day of her playdate. It was quite the change from when she had been with her old class. Today she could barely wait for him to stop the car to get out, rather than the previous refusal to leave.

He and Lex had also noticed an improvement in her language skills. She was getting a lot better at speaking in full sentences, though sometimes she would just prefer not to. She was better at saying what was wrong whenever she got upset too. They couldn’t help but feel some of these were because of her becoming friends with Cody. Having a friend meant she was talking more in general and with someone who didn’t know her as well as Ethan and Lex did. 

It was strange for Lex to not go and pick Hannah up from school that afternoon. Sure, she didn’t always pick her up, but it was a perfectly sunny day, a day that she would always pick her up on. Even Ebony seemed a bit confused, having become accustomed to the routine of collecting Hannah each afternoon.

Ebony had toddled over to where the stroller was folded up, leaning against the wall. She pushed it so it fell with a crash to the floor, trying to set it up to head out.

“’Nana.” She turned to look at Lex, confused as to why they weren’t going to get Hannah.

Lex came over and picked her up off of the floor, setting the stroller aright. “We don’t have to pick Hannah up from school today.”

She didn’t quite understand that so wriggled her way back to the ground. She walked over to the door and tried to open it, though she wasn’t tall enough to reach the door handle.

“’Nana.” She said again, banging her hands on the door before turning and looking at Lex to come and open it for her.

“Miss Hannah, do you?” She once again picked Ebony up from the ground and walked her away from the door. “Don’t worry, you’ll get to see her later, she’s playing with her friend tonight.”

Ebony placed her chin over Lex’s shoulder, wrapping her arms around her neck and grabbing a bunch of her hair.

Lex rubbed her back, hoping to make her feel better. It had been like this when Hannah first went back to school. Ebony was constantly asking after her, too young to understand where she had gone and why.

Ebony stayed attached to Lex until the moment Ethan got home.

“’Nana?” She asked lifting her head up at the sound of the door opening and shutting. She sees that it’s Ethan and decides to go see if he’ll go find Hannah. 

She wriggles herself out Lex’s arms and makes her way over to Ethan and the door.

“Dada.” She grabs hold of his pant leg and pulls him back over to the door. “’Nana.”

“Hannah’s at her friend’s house.” He says picking her up and carrying her over to where Lex was.

“’Nana.” Ebony says again, protesting slightly as he takes her away from the door, though resolves to just hug him instead.

“She’s been like that all afternoon.” Lex says, giving Ethan a quick kiss.

“I guess she misses Hannah.”

“Yeah, she tried to get the stroller out to go pick her up and everything.” She sighed. Leaning into Ethan’s side she reaches up a hand to rub Ebony’s back.

“How about you?” He asks, his free arm sneaking around her waist, thumb stroking her side. “Are you missing Hannah?”

She shrugs. “I mean yeah a bit, but like the same amount as when she’s at school. This is basically just an extension of that.”

“Yeah that makes sense. But I think this might be the longest you’ve ever gone without seeing her.”

She shook her head. “No, back in Hatchetfield there would be times I wouldn’t see her for twelve hours or more. You know, the days when I had to go straight from school to work and you’d have to pick Hannah up for me and I wouldn’t get back until she was already asleep.”

“Oh yeah, I forgot about that.” He says, letting out a sigh. “Man, I’m so glad we made it out of that place.”

“Me too.”

* * *

Lex had gone to go pick Hannah up from Cody’s house, which left Ethan to get Ebony off to sleep.

She seemed fairly tired, so didn’t put up much of a fuss when it came to having a bath and getting ready for bed. It wasn’t until he went to tuck her in that she decided she didn’t want to go to sleep yet.

He placed her down in her cot, but before he could move the blanket over her, she’d stand back up. She gripped onto the cot’s railing and point over to Hannah’s bed.

“’Nana.”

“Mum’s picking her up, Ebbi.” He said, peeling her fingers from the railing so he could get her to lie down. “You’ve gotta go to sleep now, though.”

She hit his hands away. “’Nana.” She said again, pouting.

“She’ll be home soon.” He wasn’t quite sure how he was going to get Ebony to go to sleep when she was so bent on seeing Hannah. “Would getting to cuddle one of Hannah’s toys make you feel better?” 

He goes over to Hannah’s bed where she kept her collection of stuffed toys. He picked up a teddy bear and went back over to Ebony, handing her the toy.

She hugged it tightly to her chest, tears beginning to well up in her brown eyes. “’Nana?” She looks up at him with the saddest expression he thinks he’s ever seen from her.

“You really miss her, don’t you?” He picks her up out of the cot and holds her close. 

She wraps her arms around him, still holding the teddy bear in one hand.

He kisses the top of her head. “She’ll be home soon.” He walks over to Hannah’s bed and sits down.

After a moment, Ebony crawls out from his arms and wriggles herself under Hannah’s blankets, still clutching the teddy.

Ethan smiles softly at her and tucks her in properly. He got up and turned off the main light before going back over to the bed. He wanted to keep an eye on Ebony, just in case she accidentally rolled off the bed in her sleep.

He always loved watching Ebony. She never ceased to amaze him. She was his little girl, his and Lex’s, and she was beautiful. She looked so peaceful in sleep. She and Lex looked exactly the same when they slept, both curled up in the same way, the same sleepy expression on their faces.

He stayed like that until he heard Lex and Hannah come home.

“Go put your bag away.” He heard Lex say. “Be quiet though, Ebbi’s asleep.”

Hannah’s footsteps came over to the bedroom door and she quietly pushed it open, sneaking inside. She put away her backpack and then came over to where he was sitting on her bed, moving to sit on his lap.

“Hey, Banana.” He whispered. “Did you have fun?”

She nodded giving him a hug. “What’s Ebbi doing?” She asked noticing she was in her bed.

“She missed you and decided she wanted to sleep in your bed.”

“I missed her too.” She left his lap and crawled beneath her blankets, cuddling up with Ebony. “Na-night daddy.”

“You’ve still gotta brush your teeth and get into your pyjamas, Banana.”

She pretended to be asleep, making exaggerated snoring sounds.

He shook his head, laughing. “Alright, but don’t come crying to me when mum gets you in trouble.”


	38. Chapter 38

Hannah was curled up in her bed crying. She had a wobbly tooth and it was causing her quite a bit of pain. It was hard for her to eat anything without it hurting. She just wanted it out but knew that pulling it out would be painful.

This always happened whenever she had a wobbly tooth, though it had gotten slightly better with age. The first time it had happened had definitely been the worst. Six-year-old Hannah didn’t quite know how to say what was hurting her. She didn’t let anyone touch her, scared that it would make it hurt more, so Lex and Ethan had a hard time trying to figure out what was wrong. 

Back then when Hannah got upset, she could barely say any word. It wasn’t until Lex noticed a bit of blood on Hannah’s toothbrush that she figured out what was the cause of her mood.  
It wasn’t just the pain of the wobbly tooth that would upset her. It was also the gap left by the tooth when it fell out. Only one side of her mouth would have a gap and she’d feel uneven, which stressed her out greatly. It took her ages to adjust to it.

Today she was particularly upset as it was her birthday. She was worried that any of the normal food she’d indulge in on her birthday would hurt too much to eat. She wasn’t having a good day and hated that it coincided with her birthday.

Lex sat beside her, rubbing her back trying to make her feel better.

“Is there anything I can get for you, Banana?” She asked. She felt bad for Hannah, knowing how upset a wobbly tooth made her and hating that she was feeling this way on her birthday.

Hannah shook her head and hugged onto her pillow.

“How about I go get your presents for you to open?”

She shrugs, rubbing her face on the pillow.

Ethan comes into the room, carrying Ebony. 

“Hey, Banana.” He says, moving to crouch down in front of her. “How are you going?”

She signs that it hurts, not really in a mood for talking.

Ethan didn’t quite get how a wobbly tooth was hurting her so much. Whenever he had a wobbly tooth as a kid it never hurt, maybe only a little bit when it was pulled out, but it was never painful. Though it seemed to be a family thing as Lex had told him her wobbly teeth had been a little painful, so Hannah’s overactive senses must be exaggerating the pain.

“Can I see your tooth?” He asked.

She sat up a little and opened her mouth so he could see the offending tooth.

“It looks pretty loose, Split. We could probably get it out today and then it won’t be bothering you as much anymore.”

She sat up a bit more and looked over to Lex.

“Do you wanna pull it out?” She asked, rubbing Hannah’s arm.

She thought for a moment before slowly nodding. She moved so that she was now sitting on Lex’s lap. Lex wrapped her arms around her, holding onto her hands. Hannah looks to Ethan, silently telling him she was ready. She opens her mouth.

He moves Ebony to the side so that she wouldn’t bump him and kneels in front of Hannah and Lex. One hand on the bed to make sure he didn’t lose balance while the other gets ready to extract the tooth.

“Ready?” He asks her.

She gives a small nod and leans heavily into Lex.

“Okay.” He gets a hold on the wobbly tooth. “On the count of three. One, two, three.” He gives the tooth a sharp pull and thankfully comes out.

Hannah lets out a yelp of pain. She turns into Lex who continues to hold her.

“It’s okay.” Lex says kissing the top of Hannah’s head. “You did so well.”

She signs something into Lex’s chest, still not feeling much like talking.

“Can you say that again? I couldn’t see.” She shifts slightly to she has a better view of Hannah’s hands.

She does the signs again, saying that her mouth feels bad.

“It feels bad because it’s uneven?” Lex asks to clarify.

Hannah nodded.

“It won’t be uneven for long.” Ethan said, picking Ebony back up and moving to sit next to her and Lex, having put the tooth on the bedside table. “A new tooth will grow there soon.”

“’Nana sad?” Ebony says from his lap. She 

leans over to pat Hannah’s face, who shakes her head, stopping Ebony from touching her.

Hannah signs something and then looks up to Lex to tell Ebony what she said.

“Hannah’s feeling a bit sore because dad pulled out her wobbly tooth.” She says, signing the words as she says them so that Ebony would hopefully pick up what the signs meant. She turns back 

to Hannah. “Is there anything you want to do or want us to do for you?”

She shrugged and buried her face into Lex’s shoulder. 

“How about.” Ethan said, rubbing her back. “You open up your presents and then we go out and find you a cake?”

Hannah sat up a bit and turned to face him, signing to ask if eating cake would hurt.

He shook his head. “I don’t think it would hurt, but if you’re really worried, we could get an ice cream cake, tat definitely wouldn’t hurt.”

Her eyes grew wide as she sat up straight, nodding eagerly, showing off a gap-toothed grin. She jumped off of Lex’s lap and ran out to the living room where present unwrapping’s always occurred.

“Well, that certainly seemed to cheer her up.” Lex said

Ethan wrapped an arm around her.

“That’s what I call a parenting win.” He kisses her cheek.

She rolls her eyes, though is smiling. “Alright ‘dad-of-the-year’ let’s go get Hannah’s presents for her.”

* * *

After a rough morning Hannah had recovered well and seemed to enjoy the rest of her day. She loved all of her presents and had great fun going out to get an ice cream cake.

She didn’t seem to want to get too far away from either Lex or Ethan, always holding one of their hands, and even once home she’d sit squashed up against them. Eventually she fell asleep on Ethan’s lap and he’d carried her off to bed.

“She stay asleep?” Lex asked upon his return to the living room. There had been times when Hannah had woken up when being moved.

“Yeah. Ebbi’s still asleep too.” He sat down next to her and wrapped an arm around her shoulders.

She leaned into him, resting her head on his shoulder.

They sit like this for several minutes, silently watching whatever was on TV.

“She’s eleven now.” Lex says softly.

“Yeah, she is. Crazy isn’t it?” He replies just as quietly.

“You’re telling me. It doesn’t feel like it’s been that long.”

He hums his agreement, kissing the top of her head.

“She doesn’t act like other eleven-year-olds.” She says tilting her head to look up at him.

“Well, she only just turned eleven.”

“You know what I mean. Like, I see the other kids her age and I see the younger kids, and she acts more like the year two’s and three’s than she does the other ten and eleven-year-olds. Like her mind isn’t aging as fast as her body is. I’m worried that she’ll just stop maturing one day and that she won’t be able to get a job or go to college.” Lex said, letting out a source of worry that she’d been thinking about for a little while now.

“I worry about that sometimes too.” Ethan says, giving her a squeeze. “But she just works differently than we do. Her mind is growing at a different rate. She’s behind now, but I think one day she’ll catch up, or at least enough to be able to go forth into adult life.” He pauses, thinking a moment. “But even if she doesn’t, we’ll always be here to support her whenever she needs it.”  
She nods, leaning further into him. She lets out a sigh. “I wish the world was easier for Hannah.”

“Me too. Maybe one day it will be. Maybe Hannah could find ways that make things easier and more accessible and understandable for other autistic kids.”

She smiles. “Yeah, maybe.” She had no idea what Hannah wanted to do when she grew up. She wasn’t one to talk about what she wanted from the future. Whatever it was that she pursued, however, would Have Lex and Ethan’s full support. Lex just wanted Hannah to be happy and safe.

She hears a door open and turns to see Hannah walking out of her bedroom, one hand rubbing her eyes the other wrapped around her stomach.

“Mummy.” She says, a sad expression on her face. “I feel sick.”

“You probably ate a bit too much ice cream.” Lex says, sitting up and opening her arms, allowing Hannah to curl up on her lap.

She nods, burying her face into Lex’s shoulder. “Don’t feel good.”

“I know.” She wraps her arms tightly around her, rubbing her back soothingly. “You just got to wait for your tummy to settle.”

She said nothing, trying to squash herself further into Lex. She grabbed onto a fistful of her shirt.

Ethan wraps his arms around the two of them, brushing a few stray strands of hair out of Hannah’s face. “Anything we can do to help you feel better?” He asked.

Hannah shrugged, barely moving her shoulders to make the motion.

“Do you think you’re gonna throw up?” Lex asked, trying to get a look at her face, but was unable to.

Hannah shrugged again.

Lex looked to Ethan, who got up and grabbed a bucket just in case.

“’Sposed to be good day.” Hannah muttered.

“I know, Banana. But most of the day was good, wasn’t it?”

She didn’t say anything, just stayed snuggled into Lex.

The three of them stayed together in silence, save for the noise of the TV, for half an hour before Hannah managed to drift back off to sleep.

“She must be feeling a bit better if she can fall asleep.” Ethan said, checking to make sure that she actually was asleep before they made any sort of decision about moving her back to her bed.

“Yeah. I feel bad for her. She was always meant to have good birthdays now that we’re out of Hatchetfield.” Lex says, suppressing the memories of Hannah’s earliest birthday which were spent stopping their mother from killing her.

“Yeah. We can always make up for it next year, though.”

“We can make sure she doesn’t eat so much ice cream, but I don’t think we can control when her teeth get loose.”

“True. She is getting better with wobbly teeth though.” He said. “Reckon we take her back to bed now?”

“Yeah, I think so.”

Ethan stand up, carefully scooping Hannah up from Lex’s lap. Instinctually in her sleep Hannah shifts herself so that she is now gently grabbing his shirt. He can’t help but smile as he walks her over to her bedroom, lowering her down onto her bad and making sure the covers are firmly tucked around her. He kisses the top of her head before leaving her to sleep.


	39. Chapter 39

“Hello?” He says into his phone as he drives home from work.

“Ethan? It’s your father.”

“Oh, uh, hi dad.” He hadn’t spoken to his dad since leaving Hatchetfield and was rather surprised and confused to hear from him now. “So, uh, what are you calling about?”

“What? Is a man not allowed to check in on his own son?” His dad says from his end of the phone.

“I mean, you are, you just haven’t in around two and a half years now.” Ethan said. He’d never really had the best relationship with his dad. His dad had always been working and when he wasn’t working, he was telling Ethan to break up with Lex and to get better grades in school.

“Well, you could’ve called me.”

“Yeah, but would you have answered?”

His dad stayed silent for several long seconds. “So, what have you been up to? You ran off to California with your girlfriend and her weird little sister, right? How’d that work out for you?”

Ethan chose to ignore that his dad purposefully left his question unanswered. “It’s worked out really well. We’re all really happy here.”

“Well, I have to say, Ethan, that I find that rather surprising. I assumed that the moment you got there that girl would’ve dumped you flat on your ass and left you with nothing.”

“Sorry to disappoint you.” He says, parking the car in the apartment complex’s garage. He turns off the ignition and gets out, making his way towards the stairwell.

“I don’t mean it like that.” His dad scoffed. 

“You don’t have to pretend; I know you don’t like Lex.” His voice echoed as he began climbing up the stairs.

“Honestly, Ethan, I thought I raised you better than to hang around such riff raff like her.”

“What’s that supposed to mean?”

“You know, the trailer park people. No one good ever comes out of there. I dare say she hooked up with every boy at your school just for the fun of it.”

“Don’t talk about her like that.” Ethan said lowly.

“Oh, of course, my apologies. How is your girlfriend.” He said, a hint of sarcasm in his tone.

“She’s good. Also, she’s my wife.”

“Good Lord, Ethan, you’re far too young for something like that.”

“I’m twenty-one, dad.” He decides not to mention that he was nineteen when they got married.

His dad ignores him and continues to talk. “It’s only going to lead to divorce and a lot of debt from divorce lawyers.”

Ethan pauses in his walk up the stairs, to take a deep calming breath. “We’re not going to get divorced.”

“Well, naturally you feel that way now; young and blinded by what you think is love. She’s even got you dishing out money for that weird sister of hers.”

“Hannah’s not weird, she’s autistic. And I don’t ‘think’ I’m in love, I know I am. I love Lex and Hannah and Ebbi more than anything.”

“Ebbi? Who’s Ebbi?”

Ethan had forgotten that his dad, or any of his family back in Hatchetfield for that matter, didn’t know about Ebony. “My daughter. Her name’s Ebony, but we call her Ebbi for short.”

“I doubt she’s actually yours.”

He was fed up with his dad and his ignorance, so instead of continuing the conversation that was going nowhere, he hung up the phone. He put the device in his pocket as he opened the front door to the apartment.

He was greeted by the sight of Hannah and Ebony running laps around the couch, chasing each other. Both of them giggling madly and almost tripping up Lex who was trying to make her way over to set the table for dinner.

Hannah spots him first. “Daddy!” She says running over to give him a hug.

“Dada!” Ebony says, toddling as fast as she could. She almost trips, but he catches her and picks her up so that she’s sitting on his hip.

“Hey girls.” He said, kissing the tops of both of their heads. “You two have a good day?”

Hannah nods. “Get to do a project with Cody.”

“Nice, what’s your project on?”

“Moon phases. We have to make a di… dio… dia…” She frowns, trying to figure out the word.

“Diorama.” Lex supplies, coming over to them, giving him a quick kiss. “Hey babe, how was work?”

He shrugs. “Same old, same old.” He puts Ebony down as she starts to wriggle, allowing her and Hannah to go back to their chasing.

“Did something happen?” She asks. “You look like something’s annoying you.”

He was always surprised at how easily Lex could pick up on whatever he was feeling. “Yeah, well my dad rang me.”

“Really?” She knew that neither of his parents had contacted him since they moved away from Hatchetfield.

“Yeah, he hasn’t changed. Still thinks Hannah’s weird, still doesn’t approve of you. And bonus, he doesn’t think that Ebbi is actually mine.”

Lex gives him a hug. “I’m sorry he said those things.”

“It’s okay.” He says, hugging her back. “I don’t care what he thinks anyway. You and the girls are what matter.”

“You matter too.” She moves her hands to comb her fingers through his hair.

He smiles down at her. “I’m so lucky I get to love you.”

“You’re such a sap.”

“You love it.”

“Whatever.” She kisses him, allowing her lips to linger against his, her arms resting around his neck. “Did he ring you for any particular reason?” She asked as they broke apart.

“He said he was checking in on me.”

“After two and a half years?”

“That’s what I said. But apparently yes.” He sighed, deciding to move on from talk of his dad. “Anyway, how was your day?”

“Pretty average. Although Ebbi has started trying to climb everything, but she’s not strong enough yet so just falls down. So, I just had to follow her around all day and make sure she didn’t hurt herself.”

“She’s probably spent too much time watching Hannah climb stuff.” He said, running a hand up and down Lex’s side. He looked over to watch the girls continue to run around the living room. 

Ebony stopped in her running to attempt climbing the couch. After a few attempts she manages to pull herself up onto the cushions and sits there for a little bit, looking rather pleased with herself. Then she uses the back on the couch to get to her feet, rather wobbly on the soft and uneven surface. She tries to climb up the back of to couch. She’d jump on the cushion to try and get a higher purchase but would only bounce back.

She kept doing this, each time getting closer and closer to falling off of the couch. Ethan saw the impending disaster and decided to intervene. The next time that Ebony bounced off the couch back, Ethan grabbed her out of the air before she had a chance to fall to the floor.

She didn’t seem to care that her climbing had been interrupted and simply giggles as she seated on Ethan’s hip.

“Nice save, babe,” Lex says, coming over and kissing his cheek, one arm wrapped around his waist.

“Gotta use the dad reflexes at some point, don’t I?” He smiles, tickling Ebony’s sides causing her to giggle more.

“Mum?” Hannah said coming over and wrapping her arms around Lex, resting her chin on her stomach to look up at her.

“Yes?”

“Can I have a bike?” She asked.

“You don’t know how to ride a bike, Banana. What do you want one for?”

“To learn.” Hannah said. “Cody has one and we could ride together. You can teach me how.”

“I don’t know how to ride a bike.” Lex said, running her hands over Hannah’s braids. Learning to ride a bike had been one of the numerous things that were a staple of regular childhood that Lex, and Hannah, had missed out on.

“Oh.” She said, letting go of Lex and moving over to wrap her arms around Ethan. “Can you teach me, daddy?” She looked up at him with puppy dog eyes.

He never wanted to say no to Hannah when she gave him that look, and she knew it. He glanced over at Lex who was giving him a look that meant that this was something they’d need to talk about later. Bikes could be pretty expensive, and it’s not like they had anywhere to keep one. He turns back to Hannah.

“Maybe.” He said.

Hannah pressed on with the puppy dog eyes. “Please?”

“We’ll see. Me and mum need to talk about it, okay?”

“Talk now?”

“We’ll talk after you’ve gone to sleep, Banana.” Lex said.

Hannah sighs, pouting slightly. “Okay.”

* * *

“So, Hannah wants a bike.” Ethan said as he and Lex got into bed that night.

“It seems so.” She said, resting her head on his shoulder as he wraps an arm around her waist.

“I think we should get her one.” He looked down at her to see an uncertain expression on her face. “You’re not too sure, though, are you?”

“Bikes can be pretty pricey. We don’t have anywhere to store it either, or she might lose interest in it after a few weeks.”

“We can look on eBay or in Kmart for cheap bikes. I was thinking we could probably just keep it out on the balcony. I doubt she’s gonna lose interest that quickly, bike riding is just the sort of thing she’ll enjoy. But even if she does, Ebbi can just inherit it.” He said, playing with the ends of Lex’s hair.

“Yeah, I guess.” She says quietly.

“There’s something else, isn’t there?” He asks after a moment of silence.

She moves so that she’s on her side, propped up on one elbow. “We won’t be able to keep up with her if she’s on a bike.”

“We can just tell her not to go too far ahead of us.”

“That’s not what I mean. What if she runs off, but instead of running she takes the bike. We won’t be able to catch up to her. Or she could go off on another adventure and ride the bike and get far away really quickly. It won’t be safe for her.” She explains.

“Babe, I know where you’re coming from.” He says, turning on his side to face her. He takes her hand in his and gives it a squeeze. “But we’ve got to trust her. She’s getting older and she’s pretty good at knowing what’s safe and what isn’t.”

“Ethan, it wasn’t that long ago that she snuck out of the apartment on her own without telling us. She could do that again, but this time on a bike. She could get further away faster.”

“We could get a GPS tracker or a bike lock.” He suggested. He was worried about Hannah running off on the bike as well, but knew it was unlikely.

“She could take off a GPS and she could unpick a bike lock.” She runs a hand over her face. “There’s just too many ways this could end badly.”

“We could set up rules around it. She’s really good at following rules. Like we could say she’s only allowed to ride the bike at the park.”

“She wasn’t allowed to go off on her own to the beach, but she still did that.” Lex countered. 

Before Ethan had a chance to respond a thud followed by screaming sounded through the baby monitor, though by the volume of the screams they didn’t need the monitor to hear it.

Immediately the two of the jumped out of bed and raced over to the girls’ room to see what was wrong. Upon opening the door, they found Ebony on the floor beside her cot and Hannah sitting in bed covering her ears. Ebony was the source of the noise, seemingly having figured out how to climb the railing of her cot but ended up falling to the ground.

Ethan scooped her off of the floor, trying to soothe her. She didn’t appear to be injured, though she’d probably have a few bruises in the morning. He moved out of the bedroom so the noise wouldn’t bother Hannah as much.

Lex moved over to make sure that Hannah was okay, grabbing her headphones for her.

“I know it hurts, but you’ll be okay.” He said as Ebony continued to cry loudly on his shoulder.

After a while she eventually calmed down enough for them to go back into the bedroom.

“How is she?” Lex asked, getting off the bed where she had been sitting next to a once again sleeping Hannah.

“She’ll have a few bruises but other than that she’s fine.”

She nods, rubbing Ebony’s back, who didn’t want to let go of Ethan just yet.

“How’s Hannah?”

“She was a bit startled to be woken up by such a loud noise, but she calmed down with her headphones.”

He nods, going over to put Ebony down in her cot. But as soon as he tries, she started to cry again, though much quieter this time, and clings onto him as tightly as she can.

He relents and continues to hold onto her. “Still want to stay with your dear old dad, do you?” He says.

“You’re not old.” Lex says, nudging his side.

“I’m the oldest here.”

“Only by a few months.”

“A few months makes all the difference, babe.” He says with a smirk.

“Not really.”

“You’re just saying that because you’re younger than me.”

“Whatever.” She says, rolling her eyes.


	40. Chapter 40

“You know the rules.” Lex says.

Hannah nods.

“Can you say them back to me?”

“Can’t go too far ahead.” She began. They were standing in the park, Hannah holding onto the bike she’d gotten for Christmas a few weeks prior. “Have to ask before bike ride. Only allowed to ride in the park. Can’t go to fast. Have to be careful.”

Lex nodded. It had taken a little while for her to come around to the idea but had eventually decided that it would be good for Hannah to learn. They’d all gone out together to Kmart for her to choose what bike and helmet she wanted. They’d also gotten a bike lock which they used to secure the bike to the balcony railing. 

“Okay, climb on Split.” Ethan said. He held onto the bike so it wouldn’t fall as Hannah slowly climbed onto the bike saddle. “Put your feet on the pedals.”

She squirmed a little in the seat before placing her feet squarely on the pedals.

Ethan then went on to show her how to work the brakes and steering. He tells her how to use the pedals to gain speed.

Lex half watches while also keeping an eye on Ebony who was playing on the playground.

Hannah began to pedal, and the bike began to move forwards. Ethan was walking along beside her, one hand on the handlebars the other on the saddle, making sure that she didn’t fall.

“You’re doing it, Split!” He said as they continued to move further along the bike path.

She grinned broadly, though didn’t break from concentration.

“You wanna try on your own?” He asked.

She shook her head. She wasn’t quite confident enough to be able to stay upright on her own.

He continued to walk her around the park, mainly circling the playground where Lex and Ebony were. After a few laps he decided it was time to let go, seeing as Hannah had gotten the hang of riding.

“I’m gonna let go now, Split.” He said, doing so before she had time to respond.

She continued to ride straight, though kept glancing over her shoulder to see how close he was. Doing this repeatedly caused her to wiggle the handlebars whenever she turned her head. The bike began to wobble, and Hannah, not knowing what the cause was, looked back at him more.

“You gotta look straight ahead!” He called after her.

It was too late. Just as the words left his mouth, she jerked the handlebars a little too hard and the bike toppled over itself. Hannah was sent sprawling onto the pavement, Ethan quickly running over to her.

“You okay?” He asked, sitting down beside her.

She shook her head; tears already having filled her eyes. She hugs him tightly.

He returns the embrace, rubbing her back. “Can you tell me where it hurts?” He asks.

After a few sniffs, she sits back, holding out her elbows and knees for him to see.

“They’re just grazes, Banana, you’ll be okay.” He wipes her eyes dry and moves back up to stand, bringing her with him. “Let’s go again.” He picks the bike up off of the pavement and holds it out for her to go on.

She shakes her head.

“Why not?”

She shakes her head again.

“Use your words. You can talk to me.” He says gently, wrapping an arm around her.

“Could fall over again.” She mutters.

“Falling over is all a part of learning how to ride a bike.” He said. “Yes, it’s possible that you may fall again, you may fall a hundred times. But that’s all a part of learning. Each fall, each scrape and bruise is a lesson. You learn what it was that caused the fall, and you know what to do next time. You’ve fallen over just walking and running around, but you still do those, don’t you?”

She nodded.

“So, why don’t you give this another go?” He pushed the bike towards her.

Hesitantly she took a hold of the bike, glancing up at him before climbing on.

“Atta girl, Split.” He said as Hannah began to pedal once more.

Lex had been watching from over by the playground. She had wanted to go over and make sure that Hannah was okay but knew Ethan could handle the situation. Besides, she could hardly leave Ebony unsupervised.

“Mama catch!”

Lex turned just as Ebony launched herself from one of the playground’s platforms. She manages to catch her before she hits the ground.

Ebony giggles wildly as she bounces herself up and down in Lex’s arms. “Again.” She says between giggles.

“How about you have a go on the slide?” Lex suggested, feeling that that was the far safer option.

Ebony looks at her for a moment before she wraps her arms around Lex’s neck, resting her head on her shoulder.

“Or I guess we could have a cuddle, that works too.” She said, moving over to a park bench to sit down.

She pulled her phone out of her pocket to check the time. It read 4:30. They’d have to head back home soon. The sun would start going down in half an hour or so, and Hannah didn’t like being out at night. It was mainly all the streetlamps and headlights that bothered her, though she also wasn’t a big fan of the dark.

Lex also saw that she had a new text from Veronica.

> Alexandra, I hope you’ve been having a good new year so far. A new year means new beginnings, and this year I would very much like for us to build a better relationship. I know that you don’t want anything to do with me at the moment, and that is understandable. You are yet to come to terms with why I acted the way I did, and I have accepted that. Maybe this year you will consider looking beyond your first impression of me and give me a chance. You are getting older, so is Ebony, and I’m sure you and your boyfriend have thought about having more children. It would be beneficial for you to have someone able to help out. Someone who has raised a child of her own.  
> Sincerely, your grandmother, Veronica Foster. 

She decides not to respond to the message. She goes to put her phone back in her pocket, but as she does so it begins to ring. Looking at the caller ID, she doesn’t recognise the number. Tentatively she answers.

“Hello?” She says.

“Hello.” A man says on the other end. “This is Eric Green. I believe you know my son.”

Lex was surprised to say the least that Ethan’s dad had rang her. “How do you have my number?”

He laughs. “You think I didn’t know that Ethan gave you his old phone? It’s your own fault for not changing the number.”

A few months after Ethan had gotten his first phone, his dad had dragged him out to watch a baseball game in Clivesdale. While there Ethan had pretended that his phone had been stolen, resulting in his dad getting him a new one. He had given the older one to Lex so that she’d be able to call or text him if she ever needed anything.

That phone had been a life saver on more than one occasion. If Lex ever needed an escape, she was able to shoot him a text and he’d be there. 

Hannah had also made use of it whenever their mum was attacking Lex, she could call Ethan to come and help.

“Why are you calling me?” She asked. She was tempted to just hang up on him, but there had to be some reason he was calling her and not Ethan.

“I’m calling you to tell you to leave my son alone.”

“Excuse me?”

“Oh, I’m sure you heard me.” He said. “I can see you’ve got your filthy claws wrapped around him. You roped him to you by making him sympathetic about you and that weird sister of yours; then you convinced him to take you to the other side of the country, and now you’re claiming to have had his child. And for some reason he seems to believe every filthy lie that comes out of your mouth.”

“I have never lied to him.” She manages to say amongst his spiel. 

He scoffs. “You’re lying right now. I know your type, trailer girl. You’re a no-good person, and you’ve done nothing but try to ruin my son’s life. Luckily, he’s still young and can make up for his early mistakes. But for that to happen I need to get him away from you. For some reason he doesn’t want to leave you. So, you must leave him.”

“I’m not going to do that.” She says, standing up from the park bench.

“You are. You’re going to take your weird sister and your bastard child and leave my poor trusting son alone.” He said.

During this time Ethan and Hannah had walked over to her, having finished with bike riding for the day.

He gives her a confused look. “Who are you talking to?” He asks quietly.

Lex used her shoulder to hold the phone to her ear, freeing up a hand so she could sign that it was his dad on the phone.

“May I?” He holds out his hand and she passes him the phone. “What do you want, dad?” He asks, his words cutting through whatever it was that his dad had been saying. “What were you saying to Lex?”

“Oh, I was just having a friendly little conversation with that paramour of yours.” His dad said.

“She’s my wife.” He responded.

“Dada.” Ebony says, half falling out of Lex’s arms as she reaches out for him. “Dada up.”

He takes her, holding her in one arm, the phone in the other.

“Was that that Ebony child I heard?” His dad asked. “How sweet that she thinks you’re her father.”

“I am her father.”

“No, she’s not. But it is nice that she’s thinks you are.”

“I asked you what you wanted?” He says.

“Oh, just checking in. I’ll talk to you some other time, Ethan.” With that his dad hung up.

Ethan hands the phone back to Lex. “What did he say to you?”

She puts the phone in her pocket. “I’ll tell you later.” She gives his hand a quick squeeze before turning her attention to Hannah. “Did you have a good time, Banana?”

She nods grinning. “Did lots of riding. Even did a bit by myself. Fell over, but dad helped me ride again.”

“I’m glad you had fun, but I think it’s time to go home now.”

“Can I ride home?”

Lex shook her head. “You remember what one of the rules are?”

“Only allowed to ride in the park.” Hannah answered. She leans against her.

“That’s right. Maybe one day you can ride home.” She rubs Hannah’s arm as they begin the walk over to where the car was parked.


	41. Chapter 41

Over the few months that Cody and Hannah had become friends, Lex and Sandra had been able to get to know each other. Lex had told Sandra about how they’d left Hatchetfield for California, and why they had done so. Sandra had become quite the resource, always happy to give her some parenting advice, or just advice in general. She’d even offered to babysit the girls should Lex and Ethan ever want some time to themselves.

It was nice for Lex to finally find an adult female to look up to. There weren’t many adults that she’d ever trusted, but she found that it was easy for her to trust Sandra, and Sandra had earnt that trust. Hannah had been over to play with Cody several times and had always been well looked after while there.

“Sandra, how do you manage to work full time and still always be there for Cody when he needs you?” Lex asked one day while they were waiting at the school gates for class to finish.

“I work from home.” She said. “The company I work for specialises in being flexible. Most of the employees are single parents, teen parents or parents of special needs kids. The company was built to give job opportunities for those who can’t go to an office every day.”

“That’s a good system. I’ve been thinking about finding a job.” She and Ethan had talked a bit about whether or not she needed to go back to work. If they had another kid, they’d need a bigger apartment and a higher income. She explained all of this to Sandra.

“Well, if you’d like I can have a chat with a few people and see if there’s a job opening.”

“That would be amazing. Thank you so much.”

“No problem.” She said. “Us special needs mums gotta stick together.”

Lex smiled back.

* * *

Lex hadn’t seen the girls for a good while now and was starting to wonder where they were. She knew they hadn’t left the apartment, so they weren’t in any danger. She just wanted to know where they were and what they were up to.

Hannah and Ebony were always playing together and loved doing so. Though they did have a slight tendency to accidentally set each other off. Ebony was barely at toddler age, so would easily get upset at anything; and Ebony getting upset meant that Hannah got upset.

So, Lex went to hunt them down. The first place she went was to their bedroom, which was empty. She already knew they weren’t in the living room or kitchen, so she next went to the bathroom, which was also void of children.

She paused for a moment, hearing giggling. She followed the noise, which led her to her’s and Ethan’s room.

“Shush, Ebbi, I think mum’s come in.” Hannah’s muffled voice said.

The talking came from the wardrobe.

Ebony continued to giggle. She slid the wardrobe door open a crack and peered out, spotting Lex immediately. “Hi mama.” She said.

‘Hi’ had become Ebony’s favourite word. Whenever she saw someone she would say ‘hi’ and if they didn’t say it back she became quite upset.

“Hi Ebbi. Is Hannah there with you?”

“No.” Hannah said. Closing the door shut before whispering to Ebony. “Ebbi! You were meant to be quiet.”

“Uh oh.” She said. “Oops, ‘Nana.”

Lex goes over to the wardrobe and knocks lightly on the door. “Hello? Anyone in there?”

“No.” Ebony said, giggling madly.

“You sure? I could’ve sworn I heard someone in there.”

“No one’s here, you can go away now.” Hannah said.

“Okay, I guess I’ll just go somewhere else then.” She was satisfied that the girls were fine playing whatever game they were playing that day and headed out of the room. Just as she exited the room, she heard the wardrobe door open.

“Bye-bye mama.” Ebony said from the bedroom door before running back over to the wardrobe.

“Bye Ebbi.” Lex waved back, walking out into the living room.

“Hey, babe.” Ethan greeted as he came through the front door.

“Hey.” She went over to him, wrapping her arms around his neck and kissed him. She kissed him longer than she normally did when greeting him but decided to indulge herself while the girls were hidden away.

“Why hello.” He said when they broke apart. He’d placed his hands on her waist, his fingers occasionally running over her lower back. He kisses her back, though this one was only quick. “Did you miss me?”

She said nothing but scoffed and kissed him once more. Her hands moved to play with the hair at the nape of his neck.

“I missed you.” He said between kisses. “I always miss you.”

“Sap.”

“You’re the one that married me.”

“Yeah, well, you’re the one who proposed.”

“I don’t hear you complaining. You are the one who said yes, by the way.” He rested his forehead against hers.

“I didn’t have to.” She gave him a quick kiss.

“But you did. Because you love me.” 

She rolled her eyes, though is smiling. “So, what if I do? What are you gonna do about it?”

“I’m gonna love you right back.” He kisses her deeper this time.

“Good.” She said, only breaking the kiss momentarily to speak before resuming it at full force.

After several long moments they broke apart, taking the time to catch their breath.

“I love you, Lex.” He said, leaning his forehead against hers.

“I love you too.”

It was then that the oven timer went off, breaking them out of their moment. Lex gave him one last quick kiss before moving over to the kitchen, turning the timer off.

Ethan looked around realising that he hadn’t seen or heard from either Hannah or Ebony.

“Where are the girls?” He asked, following Lex into the kitchen.

“In our wardrobe.”

“What are they doing there?” 

She shrugged. “No idea, but they seem like they’re having fun.” She pulled a lasagne out of the oven, grabbing some plates from a cupboard and began dishing up. “Do you wanna go wrangle them please?”

“Sure.” He went into his and Lex’s bedroom and immediately heard the girls giggling and talking to each other from inside the wardrobe. He knocked lightly on the door. 

“Who’s there?” Came Hannah’s voice.

“It’s me.” He said.

The door slid open and Ebony stuck her head out.

“Hi dada.” She said, climbing out of the wardrobe and giving him a hug.

“Hi Ebbi. What have you and Hannah been up to?”

“Fun.”

“That’s good.”

“Ebbi come back, we haven’t finished yet.” Hannah said sticking her head out of the wardrobe.

“You’ll have to finish later, Split.” He said. “It’s time for dinner now.”

“Can’t stop. Haven’t finished.”

“You can finish later. Come on.” He held out a hand for her, but she didn’t take it.

“No.” She shook her head. “Can’t stop.”

“We’re not stopping. We’re just pausing the game for dinner, okay? You can come back to it afterwards.”

She shook her head again, becoming more upset. “Can’t stop.”

“Hey.” He said gently crouching down so that he was level to her. “It’s okay, you won’t be gone from your game for long.”

“Can’t go. Can’t stop.” She curled up on her side, covering her ears with her hands as she began to cry, squeezing her eyes shut tight. “Can’t. Can’t. Can’t.”

Something for Hannah wasn’t clicking. Something was there and she couldn’t make sense of it or figure out how to ask for help. So, she was beginning to have a meltdown. These were rare, as opposed to her panic attacks.

She clawed at her ears, scratching them and occasionally hitting her head, attempting to get her thoughts to make sense.

“Don’t do that.” Ethan said, taking a hold of her hands.

She tries to wrestle her hands away, letting out a small frustrated scream. But he doesn’t let go, knowing that she’d only go back to hitting herself if he did.

“I know, Split, I know.” He said, keeping a firm grip on her hands with the full knowledge that she hated being touched while having a meltdown. “I’m sorry. We can’t have you hitting yourself though.”

Ebony, who was still hugging Ethan, began to get a bit upset. She didn’t know what was going on or what was happening.

He turns away from Hannah briefly. “Go and find mum, Ebbi.” He says.

She nods and toddles out of the bedroom.

He turns back to Hannah. “Can you look at me, Banana?”

She doesn’t move her head, still curled up on the ground. She continued to try and get her hands free, kicking out occasionally.

“Look at me, Hannah.” He says gently. “Can you look at me?” He pulls her up so that she’s sitting.

She made herself go floppy, wanting to go back to the floor. But Ethan kept her upright.

“You gotta sit up, okay? Now, can you look at me?”

Slowly, through her tears, she opened her eyes, blinking up at him.

“Hey, there you are.” He smiled at her. “Can you breathe with me?” He began taking exaggerated long and deep breaths, hoping she’d copy him.

She stared at him blankly for a few moments before she began to copy his breathing.

“That’s it.” He said encouragingly. “Keep going, you’re doing really well.”

She continues to follow his breathing, seeming to come back to her senses a little.

Lex then enters the room, carrying Ebony.

“Hey, what’s wrong?” She asks, sitting next to Ethan.

“She’s in meltdown.” He said, making sure Hannah was still following his breathing.

“Can you tell us what’s wrong, Hannah?” She asked. If this was a panic attack, she’d hold her until she felt better, but this was different. If Lex tried to touch her Hannah would most likely start screaming and be back where she started.

Hannah stared at her blankly, tears still flowing freely, as it took her much longer than normal to process the words. She blinked before shaking her head.

“Can you use your hands? Can you sign to us?”

Ethan slowly loosened his grip on one of her hands.

She pulled it out of his grasp, looking down at it before quickly moving it to resume hitting her head.

He swiftly takes hold of her hand once more, with much protest.

“You can’t hit yourself, Hannah.” He said, rubbing his thumbs over the back of her hands, trying to soothe her.

She scratches at his hands and wrists with her fingers, trying to make him let go of her. When he doesn’t, she gives out a frustrated scream before trying to bash her head against the nearby wardrobe door.

“Hannah!” Lex pushes the door, so it opens further, making it now out of Hannah’s reach. “No!”

She screams and cries, trying to pull herself away. She falls on her back and attempts rolling around but is hampered by Ethan’s still strong grip on her hands.

“Hey, Hannah.” He says quietly, carefully pulling her back up into a sitting position. “Look at me.”

Her eyes fly around the room, her mind unable to process what was happening.

“Look at me.” He says again.

Slowly her eyes follow the sound of his voice until they land on his face. Her breathing is fast and heavy though she is able to sync it up with his own without the prompt.

“There you go, you’re okay.” He says in the same quiet voice.

She takes a moment to collect herself, her thoughts slowly coming back to her. She calms down and looks at him properly, now that she’s present. She shuffles her way over to him, flopping so that she’s now slumped against him.

He pulls her the rest of the way onto his lap and holds her there.

“You’re okay now.” He says. He still holds onto her hands, though not as tightly.

She rubs her head against his shoulder, still crying, though her tears are silent.


	42. Chapter 42

They were sitting at the table, Hannah firmly attached to Ethan. She was always like this after a meltdown. While during it she wouldn’t let anyone touch her, the aftermath she wouldn’t want to let go.

For the few days following a meltdown, Hannah would have a hard time coming back to herself. She wouldn’t talk, only occasionally being able to sign things. There were times she wouldn’t walk, and she liked to stay in physical contact with someone for the duration. She would also be exhausted constantly, falling asleep anywhere and at any time.

“Open up, Hannah.” Ethan said, nudging her a little as he held up a fork full of lasagne for her.

She opened her mouth, accepting the food. She was curled up in his lap, her hands holding tightly onto one of his arms while her head rested against his shoulder.

He took a mouthful of his own dinner while she chewed. Once she had swallowed, he grabbed some more for her. 

“Open up, Hannah.” He instructed.

She accepts the food.

“How’s she going?” Lex asked as she came back from putting Ebony in bed. She sits down next to them, running a hand over Hannah’s hair, though stops when she shies away from the touch.

He shrugs. “About as well as she normally does after a meltdown.” He gets another forkful for her. “Open up, Hannah.”

Hannah turns her head away from the food, pressing her face into him.

“You’ve had enough, have you?” He pulled her closer to him and kissed the top of her head.

“I wish she didn’t have these meltdowns.” Lex said softly. “They take such a toll on her, mentally and physically.”

“Yeah, but she’ll bounce back like she always does.”

“I know. Just the next few days are going to be so hard for her. Look at her right now, she can’t feed herself, she doesn’t know what’s going on.”

“She’ll be okay, babe. Right, Banana?”

At the sound of her nickname she looks up at him, tilting her head at an odd angle. She spots Lex and looks at her for a long while as her thoughts gathered together enough for her to be able to figure out who she is. She let’s go of Ethan’s arm with one hand and reaches over to Lex, making a grabbing motion.

“What do you want, Hannah?” She asked.

She frowned and kept up the grabbing motion.

Lex held her hand out to her. Hannah brushed her finger’s against Lex’s testing to see what would happen. Deciding that nothing bad would happen, she grabs the hand and brings it onto her lap. She starts playing with her fingers, seeing how they bent, tracing over the knuckles.

She spread Lex’s hand out flat and brought it up to her forehead, rubbing it vigorously. 

“Are your thoughts still muddled?” She asked. “I’m sorry, but I can’t fix them, Hannah.”

Hannah looked at her, tears filling her eyes.

“I know, I’m sorry.” She wiped away the tears, her hand still being held by Hannah.

She turns her face into Ethan’s chest, keeping a strong grip on Lex’s hand and his arm.

He starts to rub her back, hoping to make her feel a bit better.

Eventually she falls asleep like that, her grip now slackening. 

* * *

In the early hours of the morning Hannah made her way into their room. She climbed up onto the bed, clutching her toy spider and crawled over to where they slept. She looked at them for a moment for flopping on top of Lex.

Lex woke up with a start, confused by the sudden weight on top of her. It only took her a few moments to realise that it was Hannah.

“You okay, Banana?” She asked quietly, smoothing back her hair.

She looked up, blinking at Lex a few times before burying her head under her chin.

Lex rubbed her back, kissing the top of her head. She and Hannah had slept like this often back in Hatchetfield, especially after a bad day.

“Go back to sleep now, Banana.” She said, still combing out her hair with her fingers.

Hannah said nothing, but snuggled herself deeper into Lex, making herself comfortable.

Lex turned her head to look at the time, only to find that it was 5:00AM. She doubted she’d be getting any more sleep that night.

She sighed, letting her head rest back onto her pillows. The last time that Hannah had tried to sleep on her like this had been a few years ago when she’d last had a meltdown. What had caused some distress for her was that she couldn’t lay on Lex like she normally did as Lex had been pregnant with Ebony.

It was at that moment that the baby monitor lit up with Ebony crying. Lex quickly covered Hannah’s ears, hoping that she didn’t wake up from the noise.

“Babe, wake up.” She said, nudging Ethan’s side.

“Hmm?” He mumbled slowly waking up.

“Can you get Ebbi?”

He opens his eyes, now registering the sound coming from the baby monitor. “Yeah, sure.” He says, noting where Hannah was lying.

“Thanks.” She whispers after him.

She hears him enter the next room, trying to settle Ebony back down. She can’t make out anything that’s being said but soon hears him leave. He comes back into their room carrying a still upset Ebony.

“See, Hannah’s right there.” He says pointing to where Hannah was asleep.

Lex surmised that Ebony had woken up and become distressed when she couldn’t see Hannah. It probably didn’t help that she hadn’t said goodnight to Ebony that night like she normally did.

Ebony reached for Hannah, but Ethan didn’t put her down on the bed so she could go say hello.

“She’s sleeping, Ebbi.”

“’Nana.” She said, still reaching for her.

He sighed and set Ebony down.

She crawled over to where Hannah was, gave her nose a rather slobbery kiss before curling up next to her and Lex.

Lex puts an arm around Ebony, so she can hold her close.

Ethan slips beneath the covers, shuffling over to the girls. “Guess we’re having a slumber party.”

Lex lets out a snort of laughter as he wraps an arm around her. She leans into him as much as she can, enabling her to rest her head in its usual position on his shoulder.

* * *

The entire day had been long and difficult. Hannah had been able to walk around the apartment, which was a relief, though she wasn’t talking or signing. Lex didn’t know if she simply didn’t want to or if she was just unable too.

Ebony didn’t understand this, of course, so was constantly confused as to why Hannah wasn’t playing with her. She had been following her around all day trying to get her attention, but Hannah just ignored her. Lex didn’t know how to explain autistic meltdowns to a one-year-old, so had just gone with telling her that Hannah was sad, or not feeling well and didn’t want to play.

One place that Hannah kept going too was the balcony. Periodically throughout the day she would go out there and try and free her bike that was locked to the railing. She kept fiddling with the lock and pulling at it. Sometimes she would sit on the bike and try to peddle away. All of her attempts failed leading to increased frustration.

Ebony was often out there with her, just sitting back and watching. Though when Hannah began to get upset, she went over to her.

“’Nana sad?” She asked patting her shoulder.

Hannah did not appreciate being touched and slapped Ebony’s hand away.

She immediately began to wail.

Lex hurriedly came out onto the balcony to see what was wrong. Seeing the two girls upset, she wasn’t quite sure who to help first. She decides to go to Ebony first, figuring she’d be easier to settle down.

“What’s wrong, Ebbi?” She asked, picking her daughter up from the ground.

Ebony held up the arm Hannah had hit.

“You hurt your arm?”

She points at Hannah, sniffling.

“Hannah hurt your arm?”

She nods.

“It’s okay, I’m sure she didn’t mean to.” She kisses Ebony’s arm better for her.

She sniffs a few more times before cuddling into Lex’s side.

Lex crouches down in front of Hannah, who is looking rather grumpy and upset.

“Hannah.” She says, taking hold of her chin and moving her face so that she’s forced to make eye contact. “We never hit. Ever. No matter what. Do you understand?”

Hannah just looks at her, frowning.

“Do you understand, Hannah?”

Slowly and stiffly, she nods. Her expression moved to sadness as she leans into Lex.

She puts her other arm around Hannah, rubbing her back. “It’s okay, I know you didn’t mean to hit Ebbi.”

Hannah sits back up and reaches over to Ebony, gently patting her head. Saying sorry in her own way. She then goes back over to the bike, shaking the lock before looking over to Lex.

“You can’t go riding right now.” She says, holding out a hand so Hannah would come back over to her.

She shook the bike again, trying to free it.

“You can’t go for a bike ride, Hannah.”

She let out a frustrated grunt before climbing onto the bike and trying to ride anyway.

Lex got up and carefully pulled her off of the bike. “Not now.” She said, hoping Hannah understood her. “You can ask dad when he gets home, okay?” She wrapped an arm firmly around her, stopping Hannah from being able to go back to the bike. “Let’s go back inside and have a little rest.”

She brought the girls back inside the apartment, taking them over to their bedroom. She guided Hannah to her bed and helped her lie down, pulling the covers over her.

She curled up in bed, cuddling one of her stuffed toys. She was just settling down, ready to have a nap when the front door opened as Ethan came home.

Immediately she bolts up and runs out of the room to greet him.

“Hey, Banana.” He says upon seeing her. “How are you feeling?”

She doesn’t acknowledge his words, also disregarding the hug she’d normally give him. Instead she grabbed his hand and dragged him out onto the balcony, climbing back onto her bike to tell him what she wanted.

“Sorry, Split, I don’t think we can go for a ride today.”

She lets out another frustrated grunt and tries yet again to ride the bike.

“Hannah, stop.” He’s says gently putting a hand on her shoulder. “We can’t go today. Look.” He points to the sky where grey clouds are steadily moving towards them. “It’s gonna rain soon.

She gasps from fright and turns into him, holding him tightly.

He lifts her up, pulling her off the bike and walked back inside.

Lex was just inside the door having been watching them, Ebony still in her arms.

“She okay?” She asked as they came back inside.

“Yeah, she’s fine.” He hitches her up so that she is properly seated on his hip. “How was she today?”

Lex sighs. “She kept trying to get her bike free. I don’t know if it was just so she could ride for the fun of it, or if she was trying to run off somewhere.”

“At least the bike lock did its’ job. She said anything at all?”

She shakes her head. “Not a word. Hasn’t even signed anything.”

He frowns. “She normally would’ve signed something by now, right?” He thinks back on all the other times Hannah had had a meltdown. Normally the day after she’d be able to sign one of two words, enough so that they could know how she was feeling.

“Yeah. I really hope she doesn’t regress from this.” She leans into his side, looking across at Hannah while Ebony grabbed a lock of her hair.

Hannah unwrapped one arm from around Ethan’s neck, bringing her hand into a fist. She rubbed it on the side of her head frowning.

Lex takes the hand, moving it away from her head. “What’s wrong, Hannah?” She asked.

Hannah grabs a hold of Lex’s hand and brings it to the same spot on her head, rubbing it.

“Is it your thoughts?” She asked, not quite sure what Hannah was trying to tell her.

Hannah pressed a finger hard into Lex’s head.

“You have a headache?” She carefully moved away her hand, giving it a soft squeeze.

Hannah nodded, lying her head down on Ethan’s shoulder, looking rather sad.

“I’ll get you some Panadol, okay?” She went into the bathroom and dug out the children’s Panadol that was kept in the medicine cabinet. They had tried to transition Hannah to take the tablets, but she just couldn’t swallow them, often panicking whenever it was attempted.

She went back over to where Hannah and Ethan were, pouring out the correct amount of medicine and handing the little cup to Hannah.

She simply held it for a little while before picking her head up of his shoulder and swallowing the medicine. She puts her head back onto Ethan’s shoulder, letting her eyes fall close.


	43. Chapter 43

“Hi Sandra.” Lex said as she picked up the phone.

“Hey Lex, I just wanted to give you a quick phone call.” Sandra said on the other end of the line. “I’ve spoken to a few people at work, and they are interested in giving you an interview.”

“That’s amazing! Thank you so much, I definitely owe you one.”

“It was no trouble. I gave them your number so they’ll call you within a few days with details.”

“Thanks again, Sandra, I don’t know where I’d be without you.”

Sandra chuckled lightly. “No worries Lex, I’ll see you on Monday.” With that she hung up.

Lex was smiling broadly. She picked Ebony up from the couch where she was sitting.

“Your mum has just gotten a job interview.” She said.

Ebony didn’t know what was going on but smiled and giggled anyway.

“What are you two smiling about?” Ethan asked as he entered the room, wrapping his arm around Lex.

“I got a job interview.” She said excitedly.

“That’s great babe.” He gives her a kiss. “Do you know when it is yet?”

She shook her head. “Sandra just said that they’d ring in a few days to discuss details.”

“Let me know when they do.” He gives her another kiss.

Ebony giggles and pushes their faces apart so she can give Ethan a hug. He takes her out of Lex’s arms so that he can properly hug her back. She starts to squish his cheeks between her hands while he makes funny faces at her.

Lex stands by watching the amusing interaction.

Ebony bounces up and down in his arms, trying to climb up a little higher, though failing.

He swings her up onto his shoulders. “I think it’s time for bed, Ebbi.”

She stops bouncing and begins to pout flopping on to the top of his head. “No.” She mumbled.

“Come on, it’s bedtime.” Lex said, stroking the back of one of Ebony’s hands.

“No.” She said again, burying her face into Ethan’s hair.

“You know, Hannah’s going to bed now as well.” He said, taking her off of his shoulders. 

Ebony always loved doing whatever it was that Hannah was doing, and always doing things the same time as her. There had been several occasions that she’d tried to go to school with Hannah, not wanting to be left out. Ebony was always happy to go along with anything that Hannah was doing.

She looked at him a moment before shaking her head. “No.” She said once more, securing her arms tightly around his shoulders.

“It’s bedtime now, Ebbi.” Lex said, making to pull her away from Ethan so she could be put into bed.

Ebony strongly protested, clinging even tighter to him and letting off a screech.

Lex let go of her.

“What’s wrong, Ebbi?” He asked, rubbing her back to calm her down.

“No bed.” She said before burying her face into his shoulder.

“Why not?” He tried to get a look at her face, but she kept it hidden, not saying anything.

Hannah wandered out of her room. “Ebbi coming?” She asked tiredly. It was earlier than she’d normally go to bed but in the week since her meltdown she had been finding it hard to stay awake after she’d had dinner. She stands behind Ethan so she can face Ebony. “Coming Ebbi?”

Ebony shook her head not looking up. “No bed.”

She stood on tip-toe and pressed her forehead against Ebony’s. “I’m going to bed, want you to come too.”

“No.” She said again. “Wanna stay up.” She pushes away Hannah.

She takes a step back, rather crestfallen. She turns to Lex, not knowing what to do.

“Go hop into bed, Banana, we’ll be there soon.” She says.

Hannah nods before slowly meandering off back into her room.

Ethan starts to walk towards the girls’ room after her, but Ebony puts up a fight as soon as she notices where he was going. She begins to cry and hit his back until he stopped moving.

“No hitting, Ebbi.” Lex said. She takes a hold of Ebony’s hands, smoothing out her small fists.

She looks up at her, still crying. “Mama.” She said sniffing, reaching out for her.

Lex took her from Ethan, sitting her on her hip, and swaying from side to side.

Ebony started to calm down, leaning heavily into Lex as she began to suck her thumb. With her other hand she began rubbing her eyes

She hoisted her up higher so that Ebony could now lay her head on Lex’s shoulder.

“I think it’s time for you to go to sleep now.” She said gently, still swaying.

Ebony frowned but didn’t protest.

Lex began to walk her into her bedroom. Just before she steps through the door frame Ebony makes a noise of protest, reaching in Ethan’s direction, opening and closing her fist in a grabbing motion.

He comes over to them. “Want dad to come to, do you?” He says, kissing the top of her head.

She settles down and allows herself to be put down into her cot and tucked in.

Hannah is already lying down in bed waiting for Ethan and Lex to come over and say good night to her.

“Ebbi okay?” She asks sleepily as Lex makes sure she’s properly tucked in.

“Yeah, she was just being a bit grumpy.” She says, kissing the top of Hannah’s head. “Night, Banana, have a good sleep.”

“Na-night.”

* * *

Her phone was ringing. Looking down at the caller ID she saw that it was Veronica. Veronica only ever texted her, why was she ringing now? Lex decided she care what the answer to that was and declined the call. 

Not a minute later her phone vibrated with a text from Veronica.

> Alexandra, please answer the phone. There’s something I must tell you something that is better said when spoken aloud.  
> Sincerely your grandmother, Veronica Foster. 

The phone began to ring again. Lex quickly checked to make sure that Ebony was happily playing before answering.

“What do you want?” She said as a way of greeting.

“Alexandra, you answered.” Veronica sounded rather surprised and perhaps a tad hopeful. There was something else lingering in her voice that Lex couldn’t quite pick out.

“Yes. What do you want?” She didn’t want to have any sort of small talk. She just wanted to get straight to the point so she could hang up and forget Veronica had ever called her.

“Right, well something’s happened and it’s not the sort of thing one can say over text.” She began rather hesitantly. “You see, Alexandra, it’s about your mother.” She paused.

Lex didn’t say anything. She wished Ethan was there. 

Veronica cleared her throat awkwardly, having expected Lex to say something. “Well, your mother, she passed away a few days ago. Alcohol poisoning, they said.”

“Oh.” Lex said. She didn’t know if she was surprised or not. She could hardly think of a time that her mother had been sober, so she supposed it was only a matter of time. She remembered hoping a few times that this exact thing would happen back when she lived in Hatchetfield. She knew it was wrong to wish death upon someone, but there had been times she was so desperate for the abuse to stop. “Thanks for letting me know.” She hung up the phone and sat down on the couch.

She wasn’t quite sure how to process this information. She didn’t know how to feel. How she should feel. Should she be glad that the woman responsible for her childhood trauma had died? Or should she be sad that her mother was gone? She didn’t know what she felt. Now she really wished Ethan was there.

There was also Hannah. Should she tell her? Lesley was also Hannah’s mother, so she had a right to know, but Lex didn’t particularly want to have Hannah remember their mum. She much preferred there current dynamic. It didn’t involve memories of their mother or Hatchetfield.

“What should I do, Ebbi?” She asked aloud. 

Ebony looked up from the corner where she was playing, tilting her head to the side.

Lex held out her arms, beckoning Ebony over, to which she obliged. She picked her up and sat her on her lap.

“Mama sad?” She asked, getting up to her feet, standing on Lex’s thighs and holding on to her shoulders.

“I don’t know if I am.” She said, her hands around Ebony’s middle, making sure she wouldn’t fall.

Ebony studied her for a moment before giving her a big kiss on the forehead followed by a hug.

Lex smiled, hugging her back. “Thanks, Ebbi.” She said, kissing her head.

They stayed like that for several moments before Lex stood up, still holding Ebony.

“Time to go pick up Hannah now.” She said, heading towards the door. She puts Ebony down for a moment so she could unfold the stroller. She goes to put her into the stroller but Ebony resists.

“Wanna walk.” She says.

“Okay, but you’ve gotta hold onto mum’s hand.” She held out her hand and Ebony took a hold of it as the two of them walked out the front door, Lex locking it behind them.

The entire walk their Lex was preoccupied with thoughts of her mother. She still wasn’t sure how she was meant to feel about it. People were meant to be sad about a parent dying, but what if said parent was also the cause of a traumatic and abusive childhood as well as nightmares that continued into adulthood. Granted she didn’t have nightmares too often anymore, but whenever she did, she’d wake up thinking she was back in the trailer and her mother was moments away from hurting her. Was she expected to mourn that woman?

When Hannah skipped out of her classroom Lex was conflicted. She both wanted to tell her but also wanted her to forget all about their mother. She wasn’t sure how much of their time in Hatchetfield Hannah remembered. She knew she did remember it, she just didn’t know how much about what was actually happening that Hannah knew. 

Lex had always done her best to protect Hannah from their mother, always making sure she was locked safely in their room. But the shouting would still have been heard. As well as the sounds of pain Lex made. She didn’t want Hannah to ever have to think about that time. She didn’t want it to affect Hannah the way it did her.

Lex’s thoughts continued to swirl around like this well into the evening. She could tell that Ethan suspected something was up but didn’t say anything until the girls were asleep.

“Are you okay?” He asked as they sat on the couch watching TV. He took her hand in his, giving it a squeeze.

Lex had been waiting for the opportunity to tell him, but she hadn’t quite been sure how to broach the subject. “I got a phone call from Veronica today.”

Ethan raised his eyebrows in surprise, not having been expecting this, but remained silent so that Lex could continue.

“She called to tell me that my mum died.” She said slowly.

He was silent for a few moments, digesting the information. He wasn’t sure what to say and didn’t know what it was that Lex would want him to say, but he knew he needed to say something. 

“How do you feel about that?” He asked carefully.

“I don’t know.” She said honestly. “I don’t know how I feel, or what I’m meant to feel.” She looked at him, hoping that he held an answer for her.

“I don’t know either, babe.” He said, pulling her into a hug. “But whatever it is you end up feeling, it’ll be okay to feel that way.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It's time for some backstory!
> 
> Well, in theory at least. 
> 
> I guess we'll just find out later.


	44. Chapter 44

Lex sighed. She knew she needed to tell Hannah what had happened. She didn’t know how she’d react to this but it needed to be done.

“Hannah, come have a seat, I need to talk to you.” She said, patting the empty space on the couch next to her. Ethan was sitting on her other side for moral support. Lex wanted to be the one to do the talking.

“Something happen?” She asked taking her seat.

“Yeah, something’s happened.” She took a deep breath. “Do you remember our mum from when we lived in Hatchetfield?”

Hannah’s face fell as she nodded. She rubbed at her forehead to try and erase the memories that flashed through her mind.

“Well, she died a few days ago.” Lex watched her for a reaction.

She was quiet for several long moments, frowning down at her lap. She then looked up at Lex. “Is that a good thing?” She asked.

“I don’t know. But she’s gone so she will never hurt us again.”

Hannah shook her head. “Can still hurt you. Webby says.”

“No, Banana, she can’t hurt me anymore.”

“Can.” She said pressing a finger against Lex’s head.

Lex took her hand and brought it down from her head. She knew what Hannah meant. He mother was still there in her memories and in her nightmares. Those she could deal with. What she couldn’t deal with was those same things happening for Hannah. She had memories, sure, but Lex had made sure that they weren’t as bad as hers. 

“Don’t worry about that.” She said, giving Hannah’s hand a squeeze. She looked at her for a moment, trying to figure out what she was thinking, what she was feeling. She brushes the hair out of her face. “How are you feeling about all this?”

Hannah shrugged and sat up a little straighter so she could look directly at her. “Ebbi said you were sad. Had sad colour.”

“Maybe I am a little sad.” She sighed. She guessed that maybe she was just a tiny bit sad about the fact that her mother would never get the opportunity to make up for her mistakes. Would never be able to apologise or realise how she had treated Lex and Hannah was wrong. “But don’t worry about me, Banana, that’s not your job.”

“Did you ever love her?”

“Part of me did. She was alright once upon a time, when I was really little. She didn’t hit me back then. She’d yell sometimes, but other than that she was alright.” The time when her mum had been vaguely motherly had ended when Lex was able to largely take care of herself. She would’ve been around six or seven when her mum stopped caring. Lex often thought of that time as the calm before the storm. At the time she had a better mum, but when things started to get worse she would’ve given anything to have gone back to that time.

“Did she ever love us?”

Lex pulled Hannah onto her lap, wrapping her arms around her. “I don’t know, Banana. She might have, or at least deep down she might have.” She kisses her head. “But I love you, and that’s never going to change.”

Hannah gives her a hug. “And I love you. That’s why you’re my mum now.” After a few moments of hugging she speaks again, her words muffled slightly against Lex’s chest. “Is it bad that I don’t love Hatchetfield mum?”

“It’s not bad. You never really interacted with her and when you did it wasn’t a good one.”

Hannah nodded. She turned herself so that she was sitting sideways on Lex’s lap, facing Ethan. She reached out a hand towards him.

He lets her take a hold of one of his hands, bringing it into her lap and playing with his fingers.

“You love me?” She asked looking up at him.

He nods. “Course I do.” He said.

“Good.” She says. “Cause I love you.”

* * *

Ebony loved playing with Hannah. Sure, she didn’t mind playing with her parents, but Hannah was the superior playmate. But today was a day where she didn’t get to play with her because she was playing with her friend from school. Ebony wished she got to play with them as well.

Instead, she moped around the apartment wanting Hannah to finish playing with her friend so she could come and play with her. She couldn’t even play with Lex right now because she was working.

She grabbed one of Hannah’s teddy bears that had fallen off of her bed and wandered out to where Lex was sitting at the table.

“Mummy.” She whined, grabbing hold of Lex’s leg.

She ran a hand over Ebony’s hair while she spoke on the phone to someone.

She bounced the teddy on Lex’s leg, dancing it back and forth. Ebony, however, soon grew board of this and looked around trying to find something else she could do. She spotted her and Hannah’s colouring things sitting on a chair. She liked colouring and drawing. Maybe she could do a really good one to impress Hannah when she came home.

She pulled the colouring book and pencil case of textas onto the floor where they landed with a splat. She opened the book a blank page. She pulled out her favourite purple texta and began scribbling. She always liked it when people stuck to their colours when drawing. She always did purple because that was her colour and Hannah got to be yellow.

The page was looking pretty boring with just her purple. Maybe she should try drawing something rather than just colouring. That would make it look better.

She looked around her, trying to draw inspiration from her surroundings. A though struck her. She’d just had a brilliant idea of what to draw. Hannah was definitely going to be very impressed with this.

Lex looked up from her work having finished her phone call. She wanted to check and make sure Ebony was going alright playing by herself.

She was sitting on the floor, on the opposite side of the table to where Lex was. She could hear the sound of colouring but wandered over anyway to see what she was doing.

“Ebbi!” 

She turned around, smiling widely to find Lex looking at her in horror, having seen that Ebony was scribbling all over the wall.

“Picture.” She said happily, turning back to the wall to continue her drawing.

“No. We don’t draw on the walls.” Lex said sternly, going over to her and taking the texta away with only a little protest. She picks Ebony up and goes into the kitchen in search of something to clean the purple texta off of the wall. 

She returns to the wall with a bucket of soapy water and a sponge. As soon as she starts scrubbing at the offending marks Ebony begins to cry.

“Picture for ‘Nana.” She says, wriggling out of Lex’s arms to try and protect her drawing.

“You can’t draw on the wall, Ebbi. I’ve got to scrub it off.”

“No!” Ebony cried, attempting to hug the wall.

“I’ve got to clean the wall, Ebbi.” Lex said, pulling Ebony away and holding onto her.

She continued to cry, trying to escape Lex’s hold on her.

Lex sighed. “How about I take a photo of it for you?” She took out her phone and put it onto the camera setting, taking a photo. “See?”

Ebony quietens looking at the photo. “Show ‘Nana?”

“Yes, we can show Hannah when she comes home.” She’d have to make sure that Hannah didn’t praise it too much, she didn’t want to have to be scrubbing the wall again.

Ebony calms down and picks up the teddy bear which had been discarded nearby, and began to play with it once more.

Before continuing to scrub at the drawing, Lex sends a text to Ethan followed by a photo of Ebony’s masterpiece.

> Your kid did this today. 

Ethan replied soon after.

> Damn. Is it coming off? 

He knew as well as she did that if they couldn’t get the wall back to normal, they could risk losing their deposit on the apartment. 

Lex sat back a bit to see what progress she’d made. It wasn’t much.

> It’s fading a little, but I don’t want to use anything too harsh and ruin the paint. 

> We could just paint over it. 

> We don’t own any wall paint, let alone the right shade. 

Lex sighed and looked over at Ebony who was happily playing with the teddy bear, seemingly oblivious as to how much trouble she was in. She continued to scrub, the texta fading a little more. Glancing down at her phone she saw that Ethan had replied.

> We could just get a similar colour and repaint the whole wall or room or something. 

> Paint is expensive. We can’t afford to repaint the entire room. The entire apartment is the same colour, we’d have to paint everything which would take up way too much time and money. 

> There’s got to be some way to clean it. Kids draw on walls all the time. Try googling it. 

She could tell that Ethan was getting fed up with her shooting down the paint idea. He’d never liked the colour the apartment had been painted; a slightly off white, but they never had the extra money to spend on something like wall paint. Spare money they had went towards presents for birthdays and Christmases or any sort of appliance or product they needed for around the apartment. She had told him that one day in the future they could repaint if they had the money. Despite Lex now working they still hadn’t quite gotten to that point.

Ebony had started to giggle madly, and Lex turned to see what was eliciting such a reaction. What she found was that Ebony had gotten a hold of another texta, this one being blue, and was scribbling all over her arms and legs.

“can’t turn my back on you for five seconds, can I?.” She said grabbing her and making to get the texta out of her hand. Before she could, however, Ebony managed to get a fair bit of blue onto Lex’s face. “Ebony, no. You can only draw on paper.”

She stood up with Ebony, making her way into the bathroom. She pulled out a packet of baby wipes and began cleaning off Ebony’s arms and legs after sitting her on the bench.

“No.” She cried, trying to kick at Lex.

Lex kept a firm grip on her. “No crying, you were naughty and now it’s time to get cleaned up.” 

She had almost finished when Ethan came home, though Ebony’s limbs still held a slight blue tinge to them which would hopefully wash off with a proper bath.

“You didn’t mention she’d coloured herself in.” He said, having found them in the bathroom.

“Daddy. Blue!” Ebony said happily, holding out her arms and legs so he could see.

“Yes well, when I was texting you, she hadn’t done that yet.” Lex said.

“Babe, you’ve got a little something on your face.”

“Thank you, Ethan, I am well aware of that.” She said briskly, turning back to cleaning Ebony.

He came over and kissed her cheek. “Go clean yourself up, I’ve got Ebbi.”

“Thanks, babe.” She said, giving him a quick kiss before she began washing her face.

“It’s a shame you're washing it off. The blue really suits you.” He said, nudging her side while picking Ebony up.

“Ha ha.” Lex rolled her eyes.


	45. Chapter 45

He was awoken by someone nudging his back. He rolled over to find that the someone was Hannah. She was standing by the bed rocking back and forth on her heels, hands twisting themselves into knots and a frown on her face.

“Hey Banana, what’s wrong?” He asked quietly shifting into a sitting position, being careful not to wake Lex. He held his arms out for her.

Hannah didn’t respond to his question but leaned her body into his.

He wrapped his arms around her, rubbing her back, trying to figure out what it was that had upset her. The only thing he could come up with was that she had had a nightmare. There wasn’t really anything else that could upset her in the middle of the night apart from Ebony crying, which he knew wasn’t the case.

“Can you tell me what’s wrong?” He asked again.

She shook her head pressing it deeper into his shoulder. Her body jerked every now and then each one followed by a frustrated hum as if she was trying to resist something.

“Can you use your hands?” He knew it would be much harder to help her without knowing what was causing her trouble.

One of her hands grabbed onto the fabric of his shirt, the other moving out so he could see it more clearly. She managed to spell out the word ‘run’ before going back to tangling her fingers together.

“Did you dream about running?” He was rather confused as to what she meant by ‘run’.

She shook her head. She jerked again accidentally headbutting his chin.

“Do you want to run?” He asked, thinking that he’d perhaps figured out why she kept jerking.

She nods, confirming his suspicions. Something had happened so that she had the urge to just run but was trying to resist that urge. He was very much impressed that she was able to resist it enough to come and wake him up and not just disappear into the night.

He could tell it was getting harder for her as her jerks became bigger and she pushed against his arms.

“Let’s go for a run then.” He said standing up. 

She looked up at him surprised and puzzled.

“I’m really proud of you for coming to me and not running off. That means we can run together. We’ll put our shoes on and run around the block until you don’t need to run anymore.” He said gently. He kept a hold of her just in case as he pulled on his shoes. He wrote a quick note for Lex in case she woke up before they got back, saying where they were going before taking Hannah back to her room so she could get her shoes.

By the time they walked out of the apartment, Hannah had become quite antsy. He was keeping a firm grip on her hand; he didn’t want to risk her running off in whatever direction took her fancy.

Once they were out on the street they began to run. Hannah seemed to instantly relax as the wind whipped in her face, dancing her hair around her head. When she was running, she didn’t have to think. She was completely free.

Ethan could see why she sometimes had the urge to just run. She had always done it when something bothered her, when her head was too full of thoughts. She could just run away from it all. Her running often started out still full of stress and thoughts, but once she was away from people she was able to let go and relax.

He was surprised she was still able to do this with him right there beside her, but she seemed to have forgotten he was there at all. He had let her take the lead, swinging their joined hands in whatever way was comfortable for her.

After running for about two blocks they start to slow down, coming into a walking pace. Ethan was panting a bit more than Hannah was. He had never been much of a runner and certainly hadn’t done much in the last few years.

“Feeling better?” He asked.

She nods and leans into his side.

“Can you tell me why you wanted to run?”

She looked up at him, rubbing her fingers across her forehead.

“Too many thoughts? Were they keeping you awake?”

She nodded.

At that moment there was a flash of lightning in the distance, followed by the loud rumblings of thunder.

Hannah gasped in fear, pressing her hands firmly against her ears. She turns into him in the way she normally did when hugging, though this time she wasn’t using her arms.

“It’s okay, it’s just thunder. There’s not going to be any rain.” He wraps his arms around her.

She looks up at him, slowly moving her hands away from her ears only for another crash of thunder to sound. She presses her face into his chest while trying to squash the sound out of her ears.

“Let’s go home now, okay?” He tries to start walking back towards the apartment, but Hannah doesn’t move. He picks her up and she wraps herself around him.

Once they are back in the apartment Hannah relaxes a bit and Ethan is able to grab her headphones for her. He tucks her back into bed, making sure she’s okay before he returns to his own room.

“Is she okay?” Lex asks upon his re-entering, evidentially having woken up while he and Hannah were out.

“Yeah, just had too many thoughts that were keeping her awake. They were getting a bit much for her, so she wanted to run.” He said, taking off his shoes and climbing into the bed next to her.

“And she didn’t just run off? She came in and asked to go running?” She asked, rather surprised.

“Well, she was definitely trying to resist the urge to just run off. She wasn’t talking either, but she spelt it out. So, I figured, why not? I did have to hold onto her though. But I think it really helped her to go running.”

“And she’s all good now? She’s not about to run off?”

“She’s fine, babe. She got all the running out of her system and I think the thunder is going to keep her inside anyway.” He said as another rumble of thunder sounded.

“Okay.” Lex nodded, making herself comfortable against him. “Ugh, you’re all sweaty and gross.”

“That’s what happens when you go running at 3 AM.” He said with a chuckle.

“You should go shower. You didn’t put Hannah in bed all gross, did you?”

“She was tired.” He said with a shrug.

“Go have a shower, and if she’s still awake have her take one as well. I don’t want you to be all stinky and sweaty for Ebbi’s birthday.” She pushed him lightly towards the edge of the bed.

“It technically already is her birthday.” He said, holding up his phone so Lex could see the time it read; 4:05 AM. “Our little girl is officially two, babe.”

“It’s gone by too quick for it to have been two years.”

“I know.” He kisses the side of her head.

She sighs, reminiscing over the past few years before bringing herself back to reality. “Hey, stop distracting me. You need to go shower.” She shoves him out of the bed.

“Alright, alright, I’m going.” He said, holding his hands up in defence.

* * *

Ebony didn’t quite get how the whole birthday thing worked, but she was still able to enjoy herself. She was happy to be at the centre of attention all day. Everyone had been playing with her, so by the time came to go to bed she was sufficiently tired and worn out.

“You’re two now, Ebbi.” Hannah had said throughout the whole day, holding up two fingers for her to see.

“Two!” Ebony echoed excitedly. She grabbed onto Hannah’s outstretched fingers and bounced up and down. Despite having such a long day, she didn’t mind it lasting a bit longer.

“You’re a big girl now.” Ethan said, picking her up and sitting her on his shoulders, taking hold of her feet so that she wouldn’t fall.

She giggles, bouncing up and down. She leans backwards so that she is lying upside down against his back.

“You’re the wrong way ‘round, Ebbi.” Hannah says, taking a hold of her hands and swaying her side to side.

“Upside down.” She said pointing at Hannah.

“I’m not upside down, you’re upside down.” She poked Ebony’s tummy.

She giggles. “You.”

“No, you are.”

“Mummy’s upside down too.” She exclaims as Lex walks into her view.

“Am I now?” She says, picking Ebony up so that she was upright on Ethan’s shoulders.

She immediately flops back down, giggling madly.

“It’s time for you to go to bed, miss giggle.” She takes Ebony from Ethan and carries her into the girls’ bedroom.

“No.” She shook her head against Lex’s shoulder, before letting out a yawn.

She kisses the top of Ebony’s head, tucking her into bed. “Good night, birthday girl.”

“Na-night, mummy.” She mumbled as she gave into the sleepy feeling. “Na-night, daddy.”

“Night, Ebbi.” He responds, kissing her forehead.

Hannah decided that she wanted to go to bed then as well, so they said their goodnights. Lex and Ethan went back out into the living room, crashing in front of the TV. 

After about an hour, Ebony came out of her room and walked over to them. It seemed she could now successfully climb out of her cot and down to the ground without hurting herself.  
She walks straight over to Lex.

“What are you doing up?” She asks, picking her up so that she’d sitting on her lap.

“Missed you.” She says, curling up and resting her head against Lex’s chest.

“Aw, I missed you too.” She starts rubbing Ebony’s back with one hand, the other combing through her curly hair. “Do you wanna stay out here for a bit?”

Ebony nodded, quickly falling asleep in Lex’s arms.

“She looks so much like you.” Ethan said, leaning into her side.

“Really? I think she looks more like you.”

He shrugs. “Well she definitely looks like you when she’s asleep. You two sleep in the exact same way.”

“Since when did you watch me sleep?”

“I do wake up during the night sometimes. I don’t watch you in like a creepy way or anything, it’s just an observation I’ve made over the years.” He kisses the side of her head.

“I didn’t really think that the way you sleep is a genetic thing.”

“I think it’s more that you have very similar faces to begin with, so you just end up looking the same when you fall asleep.” He wraps his arm around her shoulders. “Once she gets older, I think I’m gonna have a hard time telling the two of you apart.”

She laughs lightly. “I don’t think you’ll have that much trouble. We don’t look that alike.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So when I started writing this chapter it was actually thundering outside (also raining and hailing), so I thought that was rather serendipitous seeing as I came up with that plot point several days before I started writing.
> 
> Also another bit of serendipity; it's my birthday on Tuesday, and Ebbi had her birthday in this chapter.
> 
> Also also, if you're familiar with the Crosby family on YouTube Ebbi is based off of June Crosby and that's how I imagine her to look.


	46. Chapter 46

“I think we should move.” Lex said one night as they watched TV before bed.

“You want to move? I thought you liked this apartment.” Ethan said, shifting so that he was sitting more upright.

“I do, but we should find a bigger place so the girls can have their own rooms and so that there is space for any potential future children we have.”

“Well, we’re not having any more kids right this moment, unless…”

Lex shook her head.

“Right, so we don’t need more space right now. And besides, the girls like sharing a room.”

“I know, but I feel like we’re forcing them to share. And Hannah’s going to be getting to the age where she wants her own space. She had her own room for over a year before we made her share with Ebbi.” She said, letting out the concerns she was having.

“I think Hannah prefers sharing, you remember what she was like when we first moved here.” He picked up her hand and gave it a squeeze.

When they had first moved into the apartment Hannah was given a room to herself for the first time in her life. She had a bed all to herself and a room her call her own. It had taken her months to get used to it.

She would stay in her bed for at most half an hour before running over to Lex and Ethan’s room and sleeping there, snuggled into Lex like she had done her entire life. Gradually she had gotten more and more used to being on her own and stayed longer in her bed before bailing. It was only after close to three months that she was able to spend the entire night in her room.

The whole moving process had been rough on her. It being so much change after eight years of very little. She had been excited to go somewhere new, but when she started going to a new school and realising that everything was so different, she started having more panic attacks. Back then when she had panic attacks, she was almost entirely non-verbal. Though her new school was better equipped than her old one, the staff had a hard time calming her down, especially when they didn’t know what was wrong. She wouldn’t speak to them at all. The first few weeks at the school while Hannah adjusted, Lex and Ethan got many calls to come and pick her up early or calm her down. They were the only people she’d talk to.

Living in a new place had overwhelmed her, but it was a lot easier for her to get used to it with Lex and Ethan there; the only two people she trusted.

“Do you think Hannah would even be okay with moving again?” He asked.

“I think she will be, so long as we don’t move too far away.” Lex replied. “We can prepare her more this time, we can take her to see the place before we move in.”

They’d signed on to the rental agreement before they’d made it to California so that the place would be ready for them. This meant that they weren’t able to get Hannah used to it before the moved in. They had shown her pictures, but that hadn’t helped too much.

“She’s older now as well, so she’ll understand what’s happening better too.” She continued.

“You really want to move?”

“Yeah, well we don’t have to right now. But within the next year or so I’d like to.”

“Okay, I think we can do that.” He said.

They stayed silent for a few moments before he spoke again.

“One day, I’m gonna get you a house. A real house, not some shitty apartment. One with a big backyard. And there’ll be enough room for our millions of kids to run around and be happy.” He says wistfully.

“You want millions of kids?” She raises an eyebrow at him.

“Not literally, we’d have to own an entire country to house them all. I mean just however many we end up having.” He pauses for a moment. “Is it even possible for someone to have a million kids?”

“In terms of giving birth to them, no. But if you’re talking all the descendants you have, counting grandchildren and great grandchildren, etcetera, then yeah, it’s possible. It’ll just take a long time and you’d be dead before you achieve it.” She leans into him more than she was before.

He nods, running his fingers up and down her arm.

“That house dream you’ve got? It sounds really nice.” She gives him a soft kiss.

Never in her life had Lex lived in a house. It had been a dodgy apartment followed by the trailer, and now back into apartments again. When she was little, she’d dreamed of living in a house, like one of the fancy ones she’d seen in the richer suburbs of Hatchetfield. The only house she’d ever really been in had been Ethan’s childhood home, and that hadn’t been much of a house.

“We’ll make it happen, babe. One day.” He says, kissing her back, hands sneaking around her waist.

She couldn’t wait for ‘one day’ to happen.

* * *

“Do you wanna try doing it?” Lex asked. She was sitting next to Hannah on her bed, helping her do her hair like she did every morning.

“You do it.” She moved so that she was now sitting on the ground between Lex’s knees.

She begins to brush through and braid Hannah’s hair into two plaits.

Hairstyling was something she was still working on with Hannah. She was able to do a basic ponytail or uneven pigtails, but she was never able to do it well enough. She couldn’t stand her hair being lopsided or having any sort of lumps in it. And since she couldn’t get it right, Lex was always the one to do her hair.

Lex was slowly teaching her how to do her own hair. Though it was hard to get her to practice. Hannah was fine practicing the braiding motion on Lex or on a doll, but just couldn’t figure out how to do it on her own hair.

“You’re gonna have to learn how to do your hair yourself, Banana.” She said, moving onto the second plait. “I’m not going to be able to do it for you forever.”

Ebony came into the room and climbed up onto the bed next to her, watching what she was doing.

“I know.” Hannah sighed. “But it’s hard.”

“That’s why we practice. You’ll get the hang of it one day.” She finishes off the plait and kisses the top of Hannah’s head. “There you go, all done.”

“Thank you.” She says, standing up. She began stimming with the braids, grabbing the end of each in one of her hands and shaking them. She happily skipped out of the room and to the kitchen where Ethan would help her make her lunch.

Ebony stood up on the bed, holding onto Lex for support as she struggled to stay balanced on the springy surface.

“Mummy.” She said, pressing her head into Lex’s.

“Ebbi.” She pressed her head back gently against Ebony’s

“’Nana hair?” She grabbed the hairbrush that was on the bed next to her and pressed it into Lex’s hand.

“You want to match Hannah, do you?” She moved Ebony so she was sitting on the bed in front of her and began to brush out her curls. Grabbing a few spare hair ties, she began braiding.

Ebony squirmed in her seat a little, bouncing up and down in excitement.

“You’ve got to sit still, Ebbi.” Lex instructed, trying not to accidently tug on her hair to hard. Ebony’s hair wasn’t very long, so Lex had soon finished braiding it. She kisses the top of her head like she’d done with Hannah. “All done.”

“Thanks mummy.” She gives her a hug before running out of the room. “’Nana matching!” She calls as she searches for Hannah.

Lex follows her out into the kitchen where Hannah is finishing up packing her lunch box. Ebony was holding out the plaits for her to see.

“Yay, we’re matching.” Hannah says, going back to stimming with her hair.

Ebony tries to copy, but it wasn’t quite working out as well for her.

Ethan picks her up and kisses the side of her head.

“I match ‘Nana, daddy.” She says showing him her hair.

“I see.” He says, amused by how excited his daughter was about her hair. “Who did your hair so pretty?”

“Mummy did.”

“Mum must be very clever to do that.” He smiles over at Lex.

She shakes her head at him, though smiles regardless.

Ebony nods enthusiastically. “Can do your hair too!” She messes up his hair.

Lex was doing her best to hold back a laugh, and she could tell Ethan was doing the same.

“I think my hair’s too short, Ebbi.” He said, taking her hands away from his hair and smoothing it out as best as he could.

“You underestimate my braiding ability.” Lex says walking over to him.

“Regardless of your hairstyling powers, there isn’t enough time.” He turns to Hannah. “Come on, Banana, we’ve gotta go.”

Hannah goes back into her room to grab her shoes and backpack.

“Don’t go.” Ebony wraps her arms tightly around him when he goes to put her down.

“Sorry, Ebbi, but I’ve gotta go to work. I’ll come back though, don’t worry.”

She begins tearing up and only holds on tighter.

“Let go of daddy.” Lex says, trying to pry Ebony off of him as Hannah comes out of her room, ready to leave. “He’ll be back soon.”

“Ebbi, if you let go now, then when I get home later, we can play all sorts of games together. How does that sound?” He said, rubbing her back.

“Come back soon?” She looked up at him, blinking through tear-filled eyes.

“Really soon.” He kissed her forehead. “Then we can have lots of fun together.”

She thought about this for a moment before slowly letting go and allowing herself to be lifted into Lex’s arms.

He kisses her forehead again. “Bye Ebbi, I’ll see you real soon, okay?”

She nods her head, resting it on Lex’s shoulder.

He kisses Lex on the lips. “Bye babe.”

“Have a good day.” She responds before turning to Ebony. “Say ‘bye’, Ebbi.”

“Bye, bye, daddy.” She waves sadly at him as he and Hannah leave the apartment.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I really enjoyed writing this chapter.
> 
> Also it's my birthday and I wanted to get it uploaded, so here you go.


	47. Chapter 47

It was getting to the end of the school year for Hannah. All assessments had been done for the term, so she didn’t have any homework and was constantly wandering around the apartment looking for things to do. She’d spend a few hours playing with Ebony, but she really just wanted to get outside. She wanted to go to the park and ride around on her bike.

As soon as Ethan walked through the front door, she took the opportunity to ask him.

“Can we go bike riding?” She asked.

“Ask nicely.” He said, closing the door behind him.

“Please.” She stood on tip toes and gave him her very best puppy dog eyes. When he didn’t say anything, she hugged him, still looking up at him. “Pretty please.”

He sighed. He knew he was going to have to say no. It was too late in the day and dinner would be ready soon. The thing was that he couldn’t say no when she gave him those puppy dog eyes. And he did want to take her bike riding, but it just wasn’t the best time for it. He’d certainly take her to the park on the weekend. 

His main plan was to stall long enough for Lex to call for dinner or shut the plan down herself. He knew that was a bit unfair, but Lex was immune to the puppy dog eyes.

“Pretty please with sugar on top.” She said, still waiting for him to respond.

“Uh, well, dinner’s gotta be almost ready.” He said, still hoping that Lex would come and save him from having to deny Hannah.

“Daddy!” Ebony said, coming out of the kitchen and running straight over to him.

“Hi Ebbi.” He says, seizing the possible distraction.

Hannah wasn’t going to let it happen. She grabbed his arm and tugged on it when he went to pick up Ebony. “Can we go bike riding please?” She asked again. She didn’t let go of his arm and continued to give him puppy dog eyes.

“Up, daddy.” Ebony said bouncing up and down, wanting him to resume picking her up.

He does so, sitting her on his hip, though Hannah brings his focus back to her.

“Bike ride please.” She jumps on her toes, trying to make sure that he was paying attention to her.

“It’s starting to get a bit late, Split.” He begins.

Hannah sees where this is going and pulls out her very best puppy dog eyes. “Please.”

“Uh.” He tries to think of something to say that would distract her. He knows the effort is futile. Once Hannah had her mind set on something it could be quite difficult to break her away from that particular train of thought. She was still staring intently at him, while he tried to come up with something other than the word ‘yes’. It was moments like these where he wondered why he allowed himself to be surrounded by girls who could get anything they wanted from him. He knew it was because he loved them and would do anything to make them happy, but they were aware of this and used it to their advantage. 

Luckily at that moment Lex emerged from the kitchen. He gave her a pleading look, hoping that she’d come and rescue him.

She rolls her eyes, but none the less comes over to help.

“What are you nagging him about, Banana?” She asks, placing her hands on Hannah’s shoulders.

She turns around to face Lex. “Bike ride please.”

“You can’t go for a bike ride now, it’s too late in the day.”

“Knew you’d say no. That’s why I ask dad, he can’t say no.” She turns back to Ethan with pleading eyes. “Please.” She asks again.

“I said no.” Lex says, kissing the top of Hannah’s head. “Come on, you can help me set the table.”

“Don’t want to. Wanna go bike riding.” She huffed, stamping her foot.

“You can go for a bike ride another day, it’s almost time for dinner now.”

“Go after dinner?” She grabbed a hold of her braids and started stimming with them.

Lex sighed. “We’ll see, okay? You probably won’t be able to though.”

“Okay.” She leans into Lex in a no-armed hug, Hannah’s head fitting snugly beneath her chin. “Mum?” She says, stepping back after a few moments. “Webby says ‘soon’.”

She looked at her curiously. “What do you mean by that, Banana?”

She shrugs. “Webby just says ‘soon’.”

“Hi Webby.” Ebony says while trying to climb higher up onto Ethan’s shoulders.

“Webby says hi back.” Hannah says. She turns away from Lex and waves at Ebony.

She waves back, rather enthusiastically causing her to lose her grip on Ethan, though he catches her before she has time to fall to the ground. She starts giggling madly, having been caught upside down and finding it rather hilarious.

Hannah begins tickling her, causing a fresh wave of giggles to erupt.

* * *

All evening Hannah had been looking out the glass balcony doors at her bike. By the time dinner had been finished the sun had begun to set so she hadn’t been able to go riding at the park. She’d come to really enjoy going out on her bike, though only ever got the opportunity on weekends when Ethan was around. She didn’t want to go bike riding without him.

“I’m sorry we didn’t get to go out today, Split.” He says sitting down next to her on the couch. “But we’ll definitely be able to go on the weekend.” He wraps an arm around her, giving her shoulders a squeeze.

She only nods while continuing to look out the glass door.

“You won’t have to wait that long, it’s only a few days away.”

Ebony decided to join them on the couch, having just had a bath. She climbed up and sat herself on Ethan’s lap as Lex came and sat down on his other side.

Ebony turned so that she was facing Ethan. He began bouncing her up and down. She laughs, falling forwards into him so that she could try and stay upright. She shuffles closer to him, giving him a hug.

He hugs her back. “I think it’s bedtime, Ebbi.”

“No.” She says, still laughing.

Lex leans into Ethan, resting her head on his shoulder, looking down at Ebony. “It’s time for you to go to bed.” She says, running her hand over her hair.

Hannah turns from looking outside to watch. After a few seconds she gets up from the couch rather suddenly and goes out onto the balcony, sitting down and hugging her knees to her chest.

Lex looks confusedly after her. “Is she okay?” She asks.

Ethan looks just as confused. “I’m not sure.”

“I’ll go check on her.” She says. “You go get this one into bed.” She kisses the top of Ebony’s head before going out after Hannah. “You okay, Banana?” She asks gently, placing a hand on her shoulder.

She says nothing, shrugging off her hand.

She sits cross-legged in front of her. “Hey, what’s wrong?” She places her hands palm up on her knees, there for Hannah to take if she wanted.

She just shrugs, avoiding eye contact.

“You can tell me, Hannah, you can tell me anything. You know that.”

She places her cheek on top of her knees, looking sideways at Lex. After several moments of this she lets out a small sigh before speaking. “You don’t love me.” She says almost too quietly to be heard.

But Lex heard the words. “Why on earth would you think that? Of course, I love you.”

Hannah shakes her head, lifting it off of her knees. “Not as much as you love Ebbi. She’s your real daughter.” She mutters.

“I love the two of you equally.” She takes her hand and carefully squeezes it. 

She shakes her head again. “Should have left me behind. Then you and Ethan and Ebbi could be a proper family.” She put her head back down on her knees.

Lex found it rather jarring hearing Hannah call Ethan ‘Ethan’ instead of dad like she’d done for over a year now. “We are a proper family. All four of us.”

“No. I don’t belong.”

“You do belong, Hannah.”

“No!” She ripped her hand away from Lex, glaring at her. “You only care because I’m your sister! Ethan only puts up with me because of you!”

Lex sat back, shocked and hurt by what Hannah had just said. She didn’t know why she was thinking these things, she knew they loved her and cared about her. She took a deep breath. “Hannah.” She said as calmly as possible. “Do you know why we moved out of Hatchetfield?”

She looked confused, not knowing what Hatchetfield had to do with anything. “Get away from mum?”

“That was a factor, yes. But do you know the biggest reason we left? And we left when we did?”

She slowly shook her head, frowning.

Lex manages to pull her into her arms, holding her there while she speaks. “It was all because of you.”

Hannah shakes her head.

“It’s true. We wanted you to have a better life, wanted you to be happy and do things that other kids got to do. We waited to leave when me and dad were eighteen so we could get custody of you. Waited for the summer holidays so that it would be easier for you to start at a new school. Worked it out with our bosses so that we’d always be able to leave and be with you when you needed us. We’d do anything to keep you safe and happy. For you to get to have a regular childhood. We love you Hannah, we have always loved you and always will.”

She spends a few moments digesting what Lex had just said. “Why?” She asks, looking up at her. “You’re not my real mum. Ethan’s not my real dad.”

“How are you defining real?”

“You’re Ebbi’s real mum because she was in your tummy. I was never in your tummy.”

“That’s not the part that really matters. What matters is who you see as your parents. The people who raised you, who love you unconditionally, who value your life more than their own. Who do you think those people are for you?”

“You and dad.” She mutters.

“And we think of you as our daughter.” Lex says, hugging her a little tighter.

“Even though we’re actually sisters?”

“Even though we’re actually sisters. You think of Ebbi as your sister, even though genetically she’s your niece, don’t you?”

Hannah nods.

“Even though you’re not our daughter genetically we love you like you are, and that’s what matters, okay? You belong in this family, and you are just as much a part of it as any of the rest of us. Do you understand that?”

She nods. “Thanks mum.” She hugs Lex back. “I love you too.”

She kisses the top of Hannah’s head. “You know, it makes me so happy whenever you call me ‘mum’.”

“Really?”

She nods. “When you call me that, it reminds me that things are so much better in California then they were in Hatchetfield. We get to be happy here. It means we’re moving on from the past. That the future is looking bright for us.”

“That’s a lot for a little word.”

“Yeah, it is.” She kisses Hannah’s head again. “Now, it’s starting to get a cold out here, do you think you’re ready to go back inside?”

She nods, giving Lex one last squeeze before standing up.

Lex got up after her, following her back inside the apartment.

As soon as she sees him, Hannah runs straight over to Ethan, hugging him tightly.

“Thank you.” She says.

“What for?” He looks down at her with a puzzled expression, though still hugs her back.

“For taking care of me.” She jumps up so that he’s now carrying her.

“Of course, Split. I’m going to take care of you for as long as you’ll let me. And even then, you’ll have a hard time stopping me.” He hugs her tightly.

“Love you, daddy.”

“I love you too, Banana.” He kisses her forehead.


	48. Chapter 48

It was a beautiful sunny day. Hannah had finished school for the year a few weeks ago and had been enjoying her holidays. She’d enjoyed the last few weeks of school as well, even going on the class trip to the waterpark and not panicking. Though Cody had been key in calming her down on an occasion or two.

To make the most of the bright summer’s day, Ethan had taken the girls out to the park. Hannah was happily riding her bike while Ebony played on the playground. He stayed close to Ebony, making sure she was okay. Hannah was free to ride wherever she wanted so long as she stayed within sight of the playground. He trusted her to not go off anywhere she shouldn’t.

Lex had stayed home, as she had a bit of work to do and Ethan had thought it would be nice for her to have a kid-free afternoon.

He was currently pushing Ebony on the swing while watching Hannah ride around.

“Higher daddy!” She said laughing as he pushed her a little harder.

Hannah circled around and came over to them at the swing set. She loved swinging and never missed the opportunity. She plonked her bike on the ground and hopped onto the vacant swing next to Ebony’s. She often struggled to get started on the swing, so Ethan gave her a push to get her going and soon she was soaring through the air.

Slowly she stood up on the swing. When it reached the apex of its swing, she jumped off, landing on the tanbark below. She laughed and ran back to the swing so she could repeat her jump. 

She did this a few more times before Ebony decided she wanted to have a go as well. She got up to her feet and jumped out of the swing. The problem was that she was in a swing designed for a small child, which was more secure than the one Hannah was using. Her feet caught on the lip of the swing seat and she tumbled head over heels to the ground below. Ethan tried to catch her but as he was behind the swing, was unable to reach her in time, so she landed hard on her back, crying immediately.

He rushes over and picks her up, trying to soothe her cries. He brushes pieces of tanbark from her hair and clothes, inspecting her to see if she’d hurt herself.

Hannah comes over, looking concerned. “Ebbi okay?” She asks.

“She’ll be alright.” He rubbed her back, kissing the top of her head. “You’re alright, Ebbi.”

“She was copying me.” Hannah said. “My fault she’s upset.”

“It’s not your fault, Banana.”

Before he finishes his sentence, Hannah has headed straight over to her bike. Though just as she’s about to pedal away Ethan grabs hold of the handlebars. She still tries, but he’s able to stop her from going anywhere.

“Her copying you isn’t your fault.”

Hannah frowns.

“She’s not old enough to understand that she’s not big enough to do all the things that you can do.” 

Slowly she gets off of the bike and looks up at him, wordlessly holding out her pinkie finger towards him.

He takes it in his own and gives it a squeeze. “Don’t worry, Banana, she’ll be okay.” He breaks away from the pinkie promise so he could give her a one-armed hug.

During this time Ebony had stopped crying, though the odd tear still rolled down her cheeks. She rubbed her face against his shoulder. “Hurts.” She mumbles into his shirt.

“What hurts, Ebbi?” He hitches her up a little higher on his hip.

She doesn’t answer and just buries her face further into his shoulder.

“Hannah, can you see if there’s anything on her back?” He asks, his view of Ebony’s back obscured by her head.

Hannah goes around to his other side and lifts up the hem of Ebony’s shirt. “Got a scratch.” She announces, lowering the shirt back down.

“Okay, we should probably clean it, right?” He says. It was almost always Lex who dealt with cuts and scrapes. He didn’t have nearly as much experience.

He and Hannah walk over to a park bench where he had left his backpack. He shifts Ebony so that she was seated on his lap and he could get access to her back. 

He pulls out a tissue and drink bottle from the backpack. He wets the tissue before dabbing it across the red scratches that mare Ebony’s lower back.

She starts crying again, the water causing her scratches to sting.

He kisses the top of her head. “I know it hurts, I’m sorry.” He finishes cleaning up her back and disposes of the tissue in a nearby bin. “We should probably head home, Banana.”

She nods and stands up, grabbing her bike.

He puts the backpack over one of his shoulders and they begin to walk back to the apartment. 

It didn’t take them too long to get back to the apartment, and when they went in Lex immediately noticed that Ebony was upset.

“What happened?” She asked, coming over to them.

Hannah said nothing and went to put her bike away on the balcony.

“Ebbi fell off the swings.” He said.

“How?”

“She saw Hannah jumping off of them and tried to do the same.” He explained. He lifted up her shirt to show Lex the scratches.

“Is she okay?” She asks inspecting the scratches, trying to get a glimpse of Ebony’s face so she could gauge how much pain she was in. “Why didn’t you stop her?”

“I didn’t know she was going to jump off the swings until it was too late.”

“Weren’t you watching her?” 

Ebony reaches for her, and she takes her from his arms. 

“I was.” He was going to say more, but Lex didn’t give him the opportunity.

“Then why is she hurt, Ethan?” She had expected them to go out and have a fund afternoon at the park. She hadn’t expected Ebony to come back hurt. Sure, Ebony had fallen over plenty of times, but those were all accidents. This didn’t seem as much of an accident, and Ethan should have been able to stop it. She didn’t normally get this upset about these sorts of things. Kids did stupid stuff and got hurt all the time. Maybe it was the fact that she hadn’t been there to stop this from happening. Whatever the reason for her being so upset was, she was taking it out on Ethan.

“It was an accident, babe, they happen.” He said.

“Why are you acting like this is no big deal?”

“Because it’s not that big of a deal. She’s gotten hurt before. It’s not that bad, she’ll be fine.”

“It is a big deal, our baby is hurt, Ethan. I can’t believe you just let it happen.” She walks away, going into their bedroom taking Ebony with her.

“I didn’t.” He calls after her. He sighs and turns to see Hannah standing just inside the balcony door, having finished putting her bike away. “I didn’t think she’d get that upset.” He says to her.

She nods. She hated any sort of conflict so was very much uncomfortable.

“Don’t worry, though, okay Split? She always gets a bit upset whenever one of you girls get hurt. She’s just a little more upset then normal.”

She nods. “Webby did say soon.”

“What’s soon.”

“May flowers.” Hannah replied, staring off at nothing.

Ethan had no idea what this could possibly mean. He decides not to press her for a clearer answer, knowing he wouldn’t get one. He had grown accustomed to the odd things Hannah said, and he knew never to try and get those things to make sense. Interrogating her about them only made her stressed and upset.

He decides to get started on dinner.

After a half hour he goes to get Lex, hoping she wouldn’t still be mad at him. He felt guilty enough that Ebony had gotten hurt on his watch.

He walks over to their bedroom and sticks his head in through the doorway, knocking lightly on the doorframe. Lex was sitting on the edge of the bed watching Ebony, who was asleep on his pillow.

“Dinner’s gonna be ready in a few minutes.” He says.

“Okay, thanks.” She says, not looking at him.

He goes to leave but she stops him.

“Ethan?”

“Yeah?”

“I’m sorry.” She says, getting up from the bed and walking over to him. “I shouldn’t have gotten so upset with you. I don’t even know why I did.” She sighs, looking up at him. “And I’m sorry.”

“It’s okay, babe.” He says, taking her hand and giving it a squeeze. He gives her a soft smile.

“You know I love you, right.” She says.

“Yeah I know.” He smiles wider at her. “I love you too.” He gives her a quick kiss. “She okay?” He nods his head in Ebony’s direction.

“Yeah she’s okay. Just like you said she would be.” She wraps her arms around his waist, giving him a hug.

He hugs her back, kissing the top of her head. “Do you wanna wake her up, or should we just let her sleep?”

She sighs. “We should probably wake her up.” She lingers in the hug for a little longer before extracting herself from his embrace and going over to the bed. She picks Ebony up and starts rubbing her back, being careful of the scratches. “Hey, wake up, Ebbi. It’s time for dinner.” She said softly.

Ebony slowly woke up, whimpering a little as she remembers that her back hurts.

“You’re alright. Let’s go get some dinner, okay?” She kisses her forehead.

Ethan wraps his arm around Lex’s waist, running his other hand through Ebony’s hair before the two of them walked out to the kitchen.

He gives her hand a quick squeeze before dishing up. He calls over to Hannah who was watching TV. “Dinner’s ready, Banana. Can you come grab your plate please?”

She pauses the show she was watching and comes over, taking her plate from him and carrying it over to the table, he and Lex following.

“Webby said soon, mum.” She says as she sits down.

“Did Webby tell you what’s soon?” She asks, sitting down herself and seating Ebony carefully on her lap.

“May flowers.” She says, repeating what she had told Ethan earlier.

Lex was just as clueless as to what this meant as Ethan had been. She decides to not think too deeply about it and just enjoy her food.

Hannah watches Lex and Ethan for a little while as she eats her dinner. “Not mad anymore?” She asks Lex, having finished her observation.

“No, I’m not mad. Don’t worry.” She smiles, giving Hannah’s hand a small squeeze.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Two chapters uploaded in a row! Woohoo!
> 
> Also I got a little grumpy partway through writing this, so that's the main reason that Lex and Ethan have a little fight, because art imitates life and I was annoyed at my crochet wool because it got insanely tangled and I spent over an hour trying to untangle it without making any progress so I had to cut it.


	49. Chapter 49

“Mum, I don’t feel good.” Hannah said, coming up and pressing herself against Lex. There must be a cold or something going around as she hadn’t been feeling too great herself.

She felt her forehead, noting that it was a little warm. “Do you feel like you’re going to throw up?” She asked.

Hannah just shrugged. She was never very helpful when it came to describing what sort of sick she was. Lex could pretty easily figure out a sore throat of a cough. But when it came to anything else, she just had to guess.

“Is there anything I can do to help you feel better?”

She shrugged again.

“Okay, how about you sit down on the couch and put on a movie. I’ll get you your blanket and some tea. Does that sound alright?” She suggested.

Hannah shrugged again, but slowly meandered over to the couch.

Lex grabbed the blanket and a bucket taking the over to her and making sure she was comfortable before making a cup of tea. When she goes back over to Hannah, the blanket had been kicked aside and sweat was beading on her forehead.

Lex felt her forehead again, and it was definitely hotter than it had been before. So, Hannah certainly must have a fever. 

She puts the tea aside and gets a cool washcloth to try and cool down Hannah. Crouching in front of her, she dabs the cloth across her forehead, able to feel the heat of her skin through the cloth.

Lex brushes away strands of Hannah’s hair that kept sticking to the wet skin. She had gone incredibly pale, now starting to shiver. Lex pulls the blanket back over her as she begins to cry.

She leans forward in her seat so that she is now leaning against Lex, who wraps her arms around her, rubbing her back.

“Mummy!” Ebony called from her bedroom. 

She kisses Hannah’s forehead, pushing her gently back so she is once again sitting against the couch cushions.

“I’m just going to go see what Ebbi wants, okay? Then I’ll be right back.” She says, making sure Hannah was comfortable before getting up and heading to the girls’ bedroom.

She finds that Ebony has gotten stuck trying to climb out of her cot. Most of the time she was pretty good at getting out of it on her own, though sometimes she got stuck.

Lex lifts her down to the ground allowing her to go and start playing with her toys that were sitting in the corner of the room. 

Satisfied that Ebony would be okay, she goes back out to check on Hannah, only to find that she was bent over the bucket, expelling her breakfast from her stomach. 

Lex rushes over to her. She crouches back down beside her, rubbing her back and holding back her braids. The smell of the vomit had Lex fighting her own gag reflexes.

She grabs some tissues to wipe Hannah’s mouth, also getting her some water.

“Have a sip, Banana, it’ll help you feel a bit better.” She says as she takes away the bucket, Hannah having finished throwing up.

She shakes her head.

“You really should have some, Banana.”

She shakes her head again.

Lex sighs and puts the glass down on the coffee table, there if Hannah decided she did want some after all. She wasn’t surprised that she didn’t want any. Whenever Hannah felt sick she hated anything near her mouth of neck. It was always a struggle to try and get her to stay hydrated and fed.

“Do you want to try sucking on some ice?” Lex asked, returning after rinsing out the bucket. She gives it back to Hannah.

She shrugs, which is about as close to a yes as Lex would be getting.

She puts a few ice cubes in a cup and passes it to Hannah.

She just sits there holding the cup for a few moments, looking incredibly miserable. Gradually she lifts the brim to her lips, sticking out her tongue and licking one of the cubes.

Ice cubes were pretty much the only thing that Hannah would willingly consume when she was sick. She was able to suck on them without feeling as sick as she would if it was just straight water. Sometimes she’d even have a bit of icy-pole, which was the closest thing to food she’d touch.

She puts the cup down after shaking it a few times so she could hear the ice rattling around.

“Did that feel okay?” Lex asks.

She shrugs, wrapping the blanket tighter around herself, still shivering.

“Do you want a hot water bottle?”

Instead of answering, Hannah grabs the bucket, throwing up again.

Lex goes back to rubbing her back and holding back her braids.

The rest of the day continues on like this. Hannah throwing up consistently, only having a few ice cubes to keep her sustained.

Ethan came home to find Hannah still curled up on the couch looking very pale and rather miserable, and Lex crouched down beside her, looking a little pale herself, trying to take care of Hannah as best she could.

“Hey, what’s wrong?” He asks crouching down besides Lex, looking at Hannah, giving her hand a little squeeze. Everything had been fine when he’d left that morning.

“She came down with a fever just after you left, and she’s been throwing up all day.” Lex explains with a sigh.

“Poor thing.” He says, before turning to Lex. “How about you? You’re looking a little pale, are you feeling okay?” He puts a hand to her forehead. “You don’t have a temperature.”

“Yeah, I’m fine.” She brushes his hand away. She stands up. “I should probably get started on dinner now that your home. I didn’t want to leave her alone.” She looks down at Hannah.

“Don’t worry about that.” He says with a shake of his head. “I’ll order some take-away. You should go lie down for a bit.”

“I’m fine, Ethan. Hannah’s the one that’s sick.”

“I’ll take care of her, you go take care of yourself.”

She knows he’s not going to give this up, so she sighs and stands up. “Fine.”

“Good.” He stands up as well, giving her a quick kiss before sending her in the direction of their bedroom. “Oh, where’s Ebbi, by the way?”

“In her room. She’s been going in and out of there all day. I’ll check on her on my way.” She says, giving him a quick kiss, smiling at him before heading off to check on Ebony. 

She finds her happily playing with her toys, though she jumps up as soon as she spots Lex.

“Mummy.” She says, running over and giving her a hug.

She picks her up. “Hey, Ebbi.” She kisses her forehead. “Thanks for being such a good girl today.”

“’S okay.” She says, wriggling back down to the ground and her toys.

“I’m gonna have a lie down, so dad’s watching Hannah. You can go to him if you need anything, okay?”

Ebony’s face lit up. “Daddy’s home!” She speeds out of the room to go find him.

Lex watches on, rather amused. She steps out of the girls’ room to see Ebony crash into Ethan’s side, hugging him as tightly as her small arms allowed.

“Hey, kiddo.” He says, picking her up. “Miss me, did you?”

She nods, burying her face under his chin.

He spots Lex watching. “Hey.” He says pointing at her. “Go to bed.”

She gives him a mock salute before turning and walking down the hall to their bedroom.

“Love you.” He calls after her.

“Love you too.”

* * *

By the time Lex has woken up the sun had already set. She groans and sits up, worried about how long she was asleep for.

“Shit, did I wake you?” Ethan asks, having just entered the room as sneakily as he could.

“No.” She rubs her eyes and lets out a yawn. “What time is it?”

“Bit after midnight.” He says while getting changed into his pyjamas.

“That late? Why didn’t you wake me up?”

He shrugs. “I figured by how deeply you were asleep that you needed it. So, I let you be.” He slips beneath the covers beside her.

“You got the girls to bed okay?” She asks shuffling closer to him.

“Yeah, Ebbi didn’t put up much of a fuss. Hannah was a bit more difficult. She didn’t want to lie down, you know what she’s like when she’s sick. She cried a little as well. When I did get her to lie down she didn’t want me to leave.”

“And yet you’ve escaped.”

“Yeah, well I did wait a little bit after she fell asleep before leaving. I left the baby monitor on her bedside table so she can call us if need be.”

Lex nods, lying back down, allowing Ethan to pull her flush against him. “Did you get her to eat anything?”

“Only ice. But she didn’t throw it back up, so that’s a good sign.” He runs his fingers up and down her side. “How are you going? From what I can see you look a little less pale.”

“I feel the same as I did before, since I was fine then, and still am now.” She kisses his cheek.

“You know you’re allowed to admit when you don’t feel great, right?” He asked. He knew all to well that Lex never willingly admitted when she wasn’t okay. She had gotten better at it over the years, but if one of the people she loved weren’t okay, then there was no way she was going to say that she wasn’t either. Right now, Hannah was sick, so Hannah was her priority, how Lex felt wasn’t nearly as important in that moment.

“I know.” She turns his face so that she can kiss him softly on the lips. She loved how he always knew what to say to her and how safe she felt when she was with him. She always said to herself that she lived because of Hannah, because of Ebony now too, but she had a life because of Ethan. Before she met him and before they started dating, she was more of a robot than a person. Her life wasn’t much of a life. Her days consisted of taking care of Hannah, going to school, and getting yelled at. 

Hannah had been the person to keep her going in the first place, to give her purpose. But when she was with Ethan, she was able to breath, to see that there was more good things in the world than just Hannah. With him she had a chance to get a better life for herself and Hannah.

She hadn’t really given him the time of day when he first started talking to her. But she found that it was so nice to have someone who could talk to her. She had never realised how lonely she was. She had had Hannah and had thought she was all she’d ever need. But Ethan had filled in a hole in her heart she had never realised was there to begin with. And slowly, she found that she’d fallen in love with him and that there was no turning back.

They were living a life now that she could scarcely could have imagined back in Hatchetfield. She loved the family they had created and loved it more and more each day. They had rough days sometimes, but they only made the rest of the days even better. It made them stronger.

“I love you.” She whispered to him, breaking away from their kiss.

“I love you too.” He said softly, brushing loose strands of hair away from her face.

“You and the girls are the best things that’s ever happened to me.”

“Glad to know I make your top three.” He grinned.

She shoves him lightly. 

He kisses her. “You make my top three too.” He says, breaking away from the kiss momentarily before continuing it.


	50. Chapter 50

Over the course of a week Hannah slowly got over her flu. She was eating real food again, though still not very much and only from a limited selection. She still wouldn’t touch anything sweet or any sort of fruit.

She was even feeling well enough to leave the couch and play with Ebony, which made both of them a lot happier.

As Hannah improved with day, Lex found that she was consistently waking up feeling sick. She was yet to throw up, but suspected it was only a matter of time. Ethan was convinced that she had caught Hannah’s flu, though she refused to say she had. She didn’t have a fever so she couldn’t have the flu. She was a little worried that Ebony would catch it, though so far, she seemed fine.

It was a lovely warm and sunny day. Hannah and Ebony had spent the afternoon sitting out on the balcony on top of a blanket having a little tea party. Lex watched them through the glass sliding door while she finished up with her workload for the day. She had always loved how well the girls got along and that they were always happy to be with each other.

When she was pregnant with Ebony, she was worried that Hannah would feel lonely having no on the same age as her. But luckily the girls got on like a house on fire.

Just as Lex got up from the table, her phone began ringing. She picked it up.

“Hello?” She said, not having checked the caller ID.

“Hello. It’s Lex, isn’t it?” The voice on the other line belonged Ethan’s dad.

“What do you want?”

“I want to know why you still haven’t given my son his life back.” He said, getting straight to the point.

“His life back? What’s that supposed to mean? He has a life and he chose it.” She said, moving further away from the balcony so that the girls wouldn’t hear her.

Eric laughed. “He didn’t choose it. You forced it upon him and made it seem like a choice.”

“I’ve never forced him to do anything. You’re delusional.”

“Delusional? That’s not the way to speak to your elders. I ought to give you a piece of my mind.”

“I think you’ll find that you’ve already said enough. Now, leave us alone.” She hung up the phone.

He tried to call her back, but she ignored it.

She sighed and slumped down on the couch. She hoped him calling her wasn’t going to become a regular thing like Veronica texting her. She just wanted the both of them to leave her and her family alone.

* * *

_It was a glorious and beautiful day, though she spent it indoors. She was sitting on the couch, looking out the window. She was happy, though she couldn’t help but feel that something was wrong. She had this sense that their beautiful day was not going to end as happy as it had started._

_She didn’t know why she was having these feelings. She should feel safe in her home. She had spent her whole life there. Was it home or was it a prison? Some people had told her that it was, but she wasn’t so sure._

_It wasn’t like she could leave this place. Couldn’t up and leave. The trailer was her home. Hatchetfield was her home._

_There was a knock on the door._

_She ignored it. She wasn’t meant to answer the door. Her mother didn’t want her talking to anyone outside of their little family._

_She had though._

_She had met a boy who lived not too far away from her little trailer. He was kind and always smiled at her, always made sure that she was okay. No one else ever did that. He wanted to take care of her, make her feel happy and safe._

_She had told him that she was happy and safe in the trailer. That was what her mother told her she was anyway. Her mother said that there was nothing good in the outside world. That she was the only one that could keep her safe._

_She was starting to believe that maybe what her mother said wasn’t entirely true. The boy was so good to her. He brought her food when there wasn’t enough to go around. He brought her stories so she could keep herself occupied throughout the endless days._

_Whoever was at the door knocked again._

_It was a stranger at her door. Her mother never knocked, just walked right in. The boy didn’t knock either, he knew better. He only ever came to her bedroom window._

_He had scared her the first time. She had been reading late one night when he had spotted her through the glass._

_“What are you doing?” He’d asked, giving her the biggest fright of her life._

_He often came to her at night. Always when her mother was away. If she knew about him, the boy would likely be dead._

_After their first few meetings, she’d started letting him come inside. Not through the front door though. Never through the front door. He was able to climb through her window. He’d come and sit on her bed and they’d talk for hours._

_Their relationship had grown from there. Talking turned into kissing which turned into more. He started spending the night with her. Keeping her company, and keeping her safe._

_Her mother had said that she was the one that kept her safe. But the feeling of safety the boy gave her was so much more than that of her mother’s. She felt loved. Wanted._

_She had learnt that she didn’t love her mother. Maybe she had once upon a time. Then why didn’t she leave? Obligation? Loyalty? She didn’t know. The boy had asked her as much._

_“Why don’t you leave this place?” He asked her once. “You can’t be happy here.”_

_“I have nowhere else to go. No one outside these walls to love me.” She had replied._

_“I love you.”_

_That was the first time that either of them had ever said those words._

_“I love you too.” She didn’t even need to think about it, she knew she had never said anything truer._

_“Come with me. I’ll keep you safe. I’ll build you a beautiful home. We can be a family. We can make a family. And we will live happily ever after. Come with me.” He had held her hand._

_She loved the feeling of her hand in his. “I want to.”_

_There was yet another knock at the door._

_Whoever was there wasn’t going away. She was scared. She didn’t know what to do._

_“Go away.” She called to whoever it was, hoping they’d do as she said._

_“Open the damn door.” It was the voice of her mother._

_Why was she knocking? She never knocked._

_Slowly she made her way over to the door. Slowly, she turned back the deadbolt and pulled the door open._

_“Sorry, I didn’t know it was you.” She said bowing her head. It would end badly if she made eye contact._

_Her mother scoffed and pushed her way into the trailer._

_“Where’s that boyfriend of yours?”_

_She froze. How did her mother know about him? They had been so careful. Why did this have to happen now, the night they had hoped to leave._

_“You think I didn’t know about him? You thought you were being subtle? You were wrong.” She laughs. “I know all about him. I know you were going to run away together. I know you’re carrying his child.”_

_Her hand went to her stomach, where it had barely begun to grow. She hadn’t told him. Will she ever be able to now?_

_“So, naturally I had to dispose of him.” Her mother says it so casually it takes her several moments to realise the meaning of her words._

_“What did you do to him?” She never spoke back to her mother. It was always a mistake._

_Her mother shoved her hard to the ground. “Don’t ask me questions, you little brat.” She added a strong kick to the side for good measure._

_She clutched her side. She felt sick. She needed to find him._

_Slowly she manages to get to her feet. She tries to run to the door._

_Her mother grabs her hair. It had always been so long and easy to grab._

_She lets out a scream of pain._

“Lex?”

_Her mother throws her to ground._

_She lands hard on her hands and knees, letting out another cry of pain._

“Lex, wake up.”

_She crawls towards the door, desperate to get out. To get to him._

_Her mother drags her back, slamming her down._

“Wake up, Lex.”

_Her limbs collapse beneath her. She lands directly on her stomach. She feels sick. She feels scared._

_She rolls over onto her back to see her mother looming over her._

She shot bolt upright in bed. She breaks away from Ethan’s comforting embrace and runs into the bathroom.

“Lex?” He gets up, confused, and follows her.

She reaches the bathroom just in time, throwing up into the toilet.

He crouches down beside her, pulling her hair away from her face and rubbing her back.

When she’s done, she sits back on her heels. Lex didn’t realise that she was crying until Ethan wipes the tears from her cheeks.

“Are you okay?” He asks.

She doesn’t answer, just stares at the wall trying to sift through how much of her dream had been reality. There was part it that was most certainly true, she just hadn’t fully realised until that moment. 

She runs a hand over her hair, making sure it was still only shoulder-length. She hadn’t had long hair since she was twelve. She’d cut it off after her mum had started to use it against her. She still had a patch of hair that was thinner than the rest.

“Do you want to talk about it?” He takes her hand, his thumb rubbing across the back of her hand.

She always loved the feel of her hand in his.

She shakes her hand in response to his question. Letting out a sigh, she leans into him. She knew he’d know what she’d dreamt about.

He pulls her closer to him. “I know you’re gonna deny it, but I think this just proved that you’re catching Hannah’s flu.”

“I don’t have the flu, Ethan.”

“Didn’t I just say you would deny it?” He smiles and kisses her cheek.

She rolls her eyes. “I’m being serious though; I don’t have the flu.” 

“Then explain why you just threw up?” He crossed his arms over his chest, looking at her expectantly.

She didn’t know what to say. What she should say. She couldn’t lie, but could she tell the truth when she was still so unsure that it was true?

“Well?”

“I think I might be pregnant.” She says softly.

His arms drop. “What?” He looks at her incredulously, letting the information sink in. “Really?”

“Yes, I really think I could be pregnant.”

“This is amazing.” He says, cupping her face in his hands, looking at her with so much love in his eyes. “I love you.”

“I love you too.”

He leans in to kiss her, but she stops him.

“What are you doing?” She asks.

“Kissing you?”

“I just threw up.”

“I don’t care.” He makes to kiss her again.

“Well, I do.” She smiles at him. “Let me brush my teeth.” She pats his shoulder lightly and gets up and goes over to the sink, despite his grumble of protest.

While brushing her teeth, Ethan stands behind her. He wraps his arms around her waist, fingers running across her stomach. He rests his head gently on her shoulder, turning to kiss her cheek.

As soon as she’s finished, he spins her in his arms.

“Can I kiss you now?” He asks.

She smiles and kisses him herself. It’s a soft and gentle kiss that she melts into.

They break apart after several long and enjoyable moments.

“You haven’t taken a test yet, have you?”

She shakes her head.

“Is there one you could take now?” He seemed to be trying to hide how excited he was and was completely failing.

“I’ll check.” She says, breaking away from his arms and opening up the draw where she kept tampons and pads. Rifling through the draw she finds one right up the back. She holds it up.

Lex takes the test and together she and Ethan sit on the edge of their bed waiting for the results. She holds tightly to his hand. The waiting always made her nervous, though she was glad he was with her this time. She didn’t know how she managed to do this twice before without him.

After what felt like an age the timer she’d set on her phone went off. She took a deep breath and together they stood up and went back into the bathroom where the test had been left lying face down on the bench.

“You look.” She says.

He gives her a quick kiss before flipping over the test.

“What does it say?”

He doesn’t say anything but turns and kisses her deeply and gently. One hand cups her cheek while the other rests against her abdomen.

She returns the kiss, laying her hands over his on her stomach.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Holy cow!  
> 50 Chapters!  
> 100,000 (and 4) Words! 
> 
> Woohoo!
> 
> I've been looking forward to writing this chapter for so long, I've been planning it for ages and now you guys get to read it!
> 
> Also this story is pretty long. I’ve still got more plot lines but I’m thinking of ending this one here then making it a series and starting a new story for this. What do you guys think?


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